"A ... novel of a mother and a daughter, of ambition and romance, and of a traumatic past reawakened by a terrifying threat ... Adrian Rizzo was seven when she met her father for the first time. That was the day he nearly killed her--before her mother, Lina, stepped in. Soon after, Adrian was dropped off at her grandparents' house in Maryland, where she spent a long summer drinking lemonade, playing with dogs, making a new best friend--and developing...

As Nikki plans how she's going to spend her summer, things get more complicated after she starts hanging out with a visiting student.

Merci embarks on a seventh grade year shaped by high teacher expectations, a crush on a school-store co-worker, and a bossy classmate's plan for the annual Heart Ball.