In Cornwall, a 16-year-old runaway and a senior with dementia form an unusual friendship that leads to mutual solace. Allison has always been able to cope with her angry, widowed father's abuse, especially with Kelly-Anne, her father's fiancee, there to mediate. But when Kelly-Anne leaves suddenly and her father burns her face, Allison runs away. Crossan, the Children's Literature Laureate of Ireland, conveys the teen's story in raw verse. While seeking refuge in a presumably empty house, Allison quickly discovers that it's occupied by Marla, an elderly woman with dementia. Confusing Allison for a childhood friend named Toffee, Marla invites the teen into her home. At first Allison pretends to be Toffee simply to live with Marla and survive, but when she secretly observes the disrespect and abuse Marla receives from caregivers and family, she uses her predicament to give Marla the life she deserves. Crossan weaves in flashbacks from Allison's past to help readers understand her thoughts and actions during this transition. Despite Marla's dementia and the age difference, it's clear that both women understand each other's hardships and grow in friendship because of this mutual sympathy. The effect is at once painful and beautiful. Although the spare format forces readers to fill in gaps, it also renders lovely imagery as Allison seeks the family she needs. All characters seem to be white. An uncommon, successful approach to a tough topic. (Verse novel. 14-18) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Allison has grown up coping with her father's anger and volatility. But after his latest girlfriend--one who truly cared for Allison--finally hits her breaking point and leaves, Allison bears the full brunt of her father's rage and runs away. Cold on the streets of her Irish seaside town and without a friend to turn to, Allison finds herself hiding out in the shed behind an elderly woman's home. Marla has dementia and believes Allison is an old friend, Toffee, finally come back to her. What begins as an uneasy con borne out of Allison's need to survive slowly blossoms into a mutually supportive relationship as Marla comes to rely on "Toffee," and Allison grows affectionate and protective of Marla. The free-verse style suits the story, capturing the panic, worry, and disjointed state that both homeless Allison and confused Marla experience. The personal growth, found family, and genuine relationships will satisfy readers looking for the grit of realism softened by a hopeful, if bittersweet ending.

Two unlikely but resilient friends yearn to know who they really are in this sensitively told novel in verse. Escaping from her abusive single father after he burns her, 16-year-old Allison desperately hopes to locate and live with her father's former fiancee. But Allison can't find her, so she takes refuge in the Cornwall house of Marla, an older woman suffering from dementia who believes that the girl is her long-lost friend Toffee. As Allison cares for Marla and evades her other, ineffective caretaker and her mean-spirited son, affection deepens alongside her desire to stop pretending that she is someone else. A complicated friendship with Lucy, a wealthy local girl, heightens Allison's feelings of inadequacy, until Marla, in a brief moment of clarity, helps Allison untether herself emotionally from her dad. Crossan's (The Weight of Water) finessed portrayal of Allison palpably exposes, by turn, her selfishness, compassion, and longing to be loved, while the haunting narration pulls the reader into Allison's thoughts and memories as she learns to cast off the invisibility she has used to protect herself. Ages 12--up. (July)