Who Owns Kelly Paddik?

Kristin Butcher writes novels for young adults. Her most recent works
are Cairo Kelly and the Mann, The Gamma War, The Tomorrow Tunnel, The
Trouble with Liberty, and Zee’s Way.

Fifteen-year-old Kelly Paddik is on her way to Marymound, a school for
girls. The institution is intended to help troubled teens, but the
locked doors, wired windows, and 24–hour security make it seem more
like a prison, and that terrifies Kelly. Trapped there, she won’t be
able to run, and running is something she desperately needs to do. For
Kelly—sexually abused by her father since she was five and emotionally
abandoned by her mother—life has been a downward spiral of
self-destruction. It is her recent suicide attempt that has finally
landed her in Marymound. Unable to face her memories and reluctant to
trust others to help her, Kelly waits for her chance to escape. It
isn’t until Chris, a fellow “inmate” on the road to recovery,
shares her own horrible experiences at the hands of an abusive father
that Kelly finally realizes she is not alone, and a seed of hope is
planted. If Chris can make herself stop running, maybe Kelly can too.

This is Goobie’s third contribution to the Orca Soundings series for
reluctant teen readers, and like her previous books, it is right on
target. It is gritty and compelling, and young adults will relate to
Kelly’s situation whether they’ve been there themselves or not.
Goobie has an uncanny knack for creating realistic situations and for
getting right inside her characters’ heads. In fewer than 15,000 words
written at a Grade 3 reading level, she has crafted a story even the
most sophisticated readers will gobble up. Highly recommended.