Nowhere Girl

By the age of nine, I will have lived in more than a dozen countries, on five continents, under six assumed identities. I’ll know how a document is forged, how to withstand an interrogation, and most important, how to disappear . . . To the young Cheryl Diamond, life felt like one big adventure, whether she was hurtling down the Himalayas in a rickety car or mingling with underworld fixers. Her family appeared to be an unbreakable gang of five. One day they were in Australia, the next in South Africa, the pattern repeating as they crossed continents, changed identities, and erased their pasts. What Diamond didn’t yet know was that she was born into a family of outlaws fleeing from the highest international law enforcement agencies, a family with secrets that would eventually catch up to all of them. By the time she was in her teens, Diamond had lived dozens of lives and lies, but as she grew older, love and trust turned to fear and violence, and her family—the only people she had in the world—began to unravel. She started to realize that her life itself might be a big con, and the people she loved, the most dangerous of all. With no way out and her identity burned so often that she had no proof she even existed, all that was left was a girl from nowhere. Surviving would require her to escape, and to do so Diamond would have to unlearn all the rules she grew up with. Wild, heartbreaking, and often unexpectedly funny, Nowhere Girl is an impossible-to-believe true story of self-discovery and triumph.

“A call-to-action to everyone out there who wants to fight back.” —Bustle “Scandal, justice, romance, sex positivity, subversive anti-sexism—just try to put it down.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “Cuts straight to the core of rape culture—masterfully fierce, stirring, and deeply empowering.” —Amber Smith, New York Times bestselling author of The Way I Used to Be Three misfits come together to avenge the rape of a fellow classmate and trigger a change in the misogynist culture at their high school transforming the lives of everyone around them in this searing and timely story. Who are the Nowhere Girls? They’re everygirl. But they start with just three: Grace Salter is the new girl in town, whose family was run out of their former community after her southern Baptist preacher mom turned into a radical liberal after falling off a horse and bumping her head. Rosina Suarez is the queer punk girl in a conservative Mexican immigrant family, who dreams of a life playing music instead of babysitting her gaggle of cousins and waitressing at her uncle’s restaurant. Erin Delillo is obsessed with two things: marine biology and Star Trek: The Next Generation, but they aren’t enough to distract her from her suspicion that she may in fact be an android. When Grace learns that Lucy Moynihan, the former occupant of her new home, was run out of town for having accused the popular guys at school of gang rape, she’s incensed that Lucy never had justice. For their own personal reasons, Rosina and Erin feel equally deeply about Lucy’s tragedy, so they form an anonymous group of girls at Prescott High to resist the sexist culture at their school, which includes boycotting sex of any kind with the male students. Told in alternating perspectives, this groundbreaking novel is an indictment of rape culture and explores with bold honesty the deepest questions about teen girls and sexuality.

Luchi Ann only knows a few things about herself: she was born in a prison in Thailand. Her American mother was an inmate there. And now that her mother has died, Luchi must leave the only place she's ever known and set out into the world. Neither at home as a Thai, because of her fair skin and blond hair, nor as a foreigner, because of her knowledge of Thai life and traditions, Luchi feels as though she belongs nowhere. But as she embarks on an amazing adventure-a journey spanning continents and customs, harrowing danger and exhilarating experiences-she will find the family, and the home, she's always dreamed of. Weaving intricate elements of traditional Thailand into a modern-day fairy tale unique unto itself, Nowhere Girl is a beautifully rendered story of courage, resilience, and finding the one place where you truly belong.

This is the story of a girl growing up in the 1990s – a middle- schooler who finds herself lost in the gulf between childhood and adolescence, developing paralyzing fears of failure, school, other people, and her own changing body. Along the way, she becomes obsessed with the Beatles... which might be just what she needs to find her way back to being okay. Yeah yeah yeah!

My mother was a prostitute. My grandmother and great-grandmother were prostitutes. Maybe I should have given the family business a chance. To Westerners, being Romani means being wild, romantic and free. To Eliska Tanzer, it means being rented out to dance for older men. It means living without running water. It means not being allowed a job or an education. It means being stuffed into a bare room with all your aunts and cousins, fighting over the thin, stained blanket the way you fight over the last piece of half-mouldy bread. It means joining the family prostitution ring when you’re still a child. But Eliska is given a way out after her mother scrapes together the money to smuggle her out of the country to a new life. Arriving in England in a washing-machine box, she thinks she has made it. But as a young girl alone in a new country, Eliska soon sees her dream turn into a nightmare when she is forced to live and work under unbearable abuse as she tries to forge her way alone. Drawing on the struggles of her Romani ancestors, Eliska is inspired with the strength to carry on. She eventually starts a successful business and becomes an accomplished writer and dancer. The Girl from Nowhere is a triumphant story of family, persistence and the meaning of freedom.

"A fast-paced spy thriller with enough twists and turns to keep readers entertained." - Publishers Weekly Red Sparrow meets One of Us Is Lying in this action-packed, romance-filled YA debut about a girl trying to outrun her past. Ninety-four countries. Thirty-one schools. Two bullets. Now it's over . . . or so she thinks. Sophia Hepworth has spent her life all over the world--moving quickly, never staying in one place for too long. She knows to always look over her shoulder, to be able to fight to survive at a moment's notice. She has trained to be ready for anything. Except this. Suddenly it's over. Now Sophia is expected to attend high school in a sleepy Montana town. She is told to forget the past, but she's haunted by it. As hard as she tries to be like her new friends and live a normal life, she can't shake the feeling that this new normal won't last. Then comes strong and silent Aksel, whose skills match Sophia's, and who seems to know more about her than he's letting on . . . What if everything Sophia thought she knew about her past is a lie? Cinematic and breathtaking, Tiffany Rosenhan's debut stars a fierce heroine who will risk everything to save the life she has built for herself.

Consider the world of a young girl who never knew what a normal family was like, and didn't experience the traditional love of a mother or father. For her, home meant several families all jumbled up together. After the age of five, her mother worked long hours away from home, and she was often left alone or cared for by mothers of other children. Her chief male authority was not her father, but the group's charismatic, heavy-handed leader. Only later would she come to understand: this community was a cult. Nita's Clark's cobbled-together family worked as a unit for the good of the group. The followers were free to choose an outside career; however, almost all of their salary was handed over to the leader. There was child abuse, and the adults were not treated much better. Astonishingly, Clark survived the abuse and dogma that infused everything she knew from the moment of her birth. Through self-reflection and confronting difficult memories, the young girl was able to transform into a woman who has found peace, and now lives her life free from the oppression of her past. Clark's intimate memoir, Nowhere Girl, is the finishing touch on her incredible, therapeutic journey.

‘OMG this book! So so so heartbreaking, my heart broke… My god it was fabulous, the writing style and storyline were brilliant and well written... This book will stay with me for a long long time and definitely on my favs of 2020!’ Goodreads Reviewer, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ I will not think about it anymore. I won’t think about her. My lost little sister with her beautiful smile, her chestnut-coloured eyes. My sister who I couldn’t protect. If you passed Alice on the street, you couldn’t help but smile. At how she holds hands with her husband, Jack, who she has been with since she was at university. At the way she admires her three boys, the centre of her universe. But if you looked very closely, you’d see how tightly she holds Jack’s hand, afraid to let go. You’d see how carefully she watches her boys, scared to look away. You’d see her smile fading in a matter of seconds, and the pain she hides behind her eyes. She has told Jack that she ran away from home when she was younger – but she didn’t tell him the whole story. Her husband doesn’t know about the guilt she bears about her little sister she failed to save. Now, after a lifetime of fresh starts, Alice can feel her past playing catch-up. She is sure she is being watched, certain she is being followed. She may not be able to stop her secret coming out – but can she stop the world she has lovingly built collapsing in on her? This utterly heartbreaking, beautifully written and gripping family drama examines just how far we are willing to go for our loved ones, and the desperate decisions we make when we have no other choice. Fans of Jodi Picoult, Kerry Fisher and Liane Moriarty will be blown away by this incredibly moving tale. Readers absolutely love The Nowhere Girl: ‘One of a kind. I think fans of Jodi Picoult, Liane Moriarty and others will love this one. I was blown away by the story and the characters.’ Crossroad Reviews ‘Jeez, Louise!!! This story kept me reading and reading like there was no tomorrow!... I adored it… It made my heart sing and weep. It made my eyes leak and my mouth smile. It was utterly gripping and devastating.’ B for Book Review, 5 stars ‘An incredible book by an incredible writer!... Had me hooked from the very first page and kept me reading right through the night. I am a relatively slow reader but I devoured this book in one sitting as I just couldn’t put it down.’ Goodreads Reviewer, 5 stars ‘Wow, just wow!!!!!... So amazing and beautifully written... I loved it so much... An emotional rollercoaster that I never wanted to get off from.’ Blue Moon Blogger, 5 stars ‘Jaw-droppingly good!... One of the most evocative, captivating books that I had the pleasure to have read… Exquisitely crafted… Unequivocally one of the best books that I have read.’ Goodreads Reviewer, 5 stars ‘All I can say is WOW!… I couldn’t put the book down.’ Goodreads Reviewer, 5 stars ‘OMG… What can I say?... Nicole took me on a journey… It felt so real, I cried.’ Goodreads Reviewer, 5 stars ‘WOW… I loved this one.’ Goodreads Reviewer ‘Oh my, what a story! I absolutely loved it from beginning to end.’ NetGalley Reviewer, 5 stars ‘Captivating. I was hooked from the first sentence and had to keep reading until I got to the end… It had my heart racing… I wish I could give it SIX stars!’ Reading Down Under, 5 stars ‘Oh my goodness, what a fantastic book… A definite “edge of seater”. Well done, Nicole, I look forward to your next masterpiece.’ NetGalley Reviewer, 5 stars ‘I couldn’t stop reading!... I read the last half of the book all in one morning (during a snow day from school!). Couldn’t put it down!... I am not a person who typically gets emotional when I read books but the last 4–5 chapters had me so emotionally connected.’ Goodreads Reviewer, 5 stars ‘I finished just moments ago and the only word that comes to mind is “wow!” I am blown away by the author’s ability to create such a painful, beautiful story… I felt everything from joy to anger. This story deserves great praise. I will be telling everyone about it and can’t wait for people to read it!’ NetGalley Reviewer, 5 stars