The New York Times bestselling author returns with a starling and surprising new book—a novel of suspense and a contemporary coming-of-age story narrated by an American teenage girl who falls into a life of drugs and crime and must escape before it's too late

Abandoned and neglected by her parents, nineteen-year old Maya Vidal has grown up in a rambling old house in Berkeley with her grandparents. Her grandmother, Nidia, affectionately known as Nini, is a force of nature—willful and outspoken, unconventionally wise with a mystical streak, and fiercely protective—a woman whose formidable strength helped her build a new life after emigrating from Chile in 1973 with her young son, Maya’s father. Popo, Maya’s grandfather, is an African-American astronomer and professor—a gentle man whose solid, comforting presence helps calm the turbulence of Maya's adolescence.

When Popo dies of cancer, Maya goes completely off the rai