Where I Live

Included on Bustle's list of the "27 Most Anticipated YA Contemporary Books Hitting Shelves in 2018"!

“Fans of Jennifer Niven and Nicola Yoon will enjoy this realistic debut novel, which brings to light heavy topics of homelessness and abuse.” —School Library Journal

“Where I Live is hard-hitting and real and filled with hope. It makes you want to find your voice, find your people, and tell your story.” —Jennifer Niven, New York Times bestselling author of All the Bright Places and Holding Up the Universe

From debut author Brenda Rufener comes a heart-wrenching and evocative story perfect for fans of Thirteen Reasons Why, Girl in Pieces, and All the Bright Places.

Linden Rose has a big secret—she is homeless and living in the halls of her small-town high school. Her position as school blog editor, her best friends, Ham and Seung, and the promise of a future far away are what keep Linden under the radar and moving forward.

But when cool-girl Bea comes to school with a bloody lip, the damage hits too close to home. Linden begins looking at Bea’s life, and soon her investigation prompts people to pay more attention. And attention is the last thing she needs.

Linden knows the only way to put a stop to the violence is to tell Bea’s story and come to terms with her own painful past. Even if that means breaking her rules for survival and jeopardizing the secrets she’s worked so hard to keep.

Can she find the courage to speak up without losing the only home she has?

• Teen Homelessness: Linden Rose has rules for survival: blend in, stay hidden, and never let anyone know she’s secretly living in the halls of Hinderwood High.
• Friendship Against the Odds: Her only lifeline is her friends, Ham and Seung. They're the family she has left, but they can never know the full truth.
• A Hard-Hitting Story of Abuse: When a popular girl shows up with a bloody lip, Linden is forced to confront a cycle of violence that hits too close to home and risks the one thing she can't afford: attention.
• A Poignant Friends to Lovers Romance: Amid the chaos, Linden's feelings for Seung are growing into something more, but her carefully constructed walls might be too high for anyone to climb.