By Christina Kilbuorne
4 Stars
The book starts off with a 14-year-old girl named Harbour Mandrayke camping in a park ravine in Toronto, Ontario. It’s the middle of summer, and Harbour has enough tuna and crackers to keep her and her pet dog, Tuff Stuff (Tuff for short), going for a good few weeks. Her dad picked this spot and is on his way from Florida with their live-aboard boat.
The weeks eventually turn into months, and Harbour is starting to get worried. Adding to her worries, her dad’s credit card stops working, he stops answering her phone calls, and she runs out of money. The only thing keeping her and Tuff sane is a friend they made named Lise. Lise is a teenage homeless girl living on the streets. She knows the ins and outs of living on the streets, helping and teaching Harbour about life as a homeless person. Lise lives in the homeless shelter, but Harbour can’t live in the shelter because of Tuff. Life just seems to be getting harder for Harbour as she is running low on food, and the harsh Canadian winter unravels.
This book is full of many heartfelt and witty moments that made up for the tear-jerking and chest-aching moments. While reading this book, I got a better understanding of how the homeless survive, like finding food, figuring out where to spend the night, trying to stay clean, and working towards homelessness. There was also an element of mental illness in the book, which I really liked.
The only thing that I really disliked about this book was that the plot was a little too happy, and the ending was very fantastical. Which is why I rated the book 4 stars.
Reviewed by Momena
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