shannon, chelsey

Seventeen-year-old Chelsey Shannon describes how, after she lost her mother to cancer when she was six, her life changed completely at age thirteen, when her father was murdered.

Contains three teen-authored memoirs in which Marni Bates, Emily Smucker, and Chelsey Shannon use prose, poetry, and journal entries to discuss the challenges of surviving high school, chronic illness, and family tragedy.

Chelsey's father, her only surviving parent, was violently murdered days before her fourteenth birthday. As she struggled to come to terms with her drastically changed life, Chelsey was forced to confront a new school and her identity as an orphan. Although her extended family told her she was not alone, she felt as though she was.