about the book
Thirteen-year-old Dime, kicked out by her foster mother, is struggling to survive on the streets of Newark, New Jersey. More than anything else, she wants a family and to be loved.
When Daddy, a pimp, notices Dime, he offers her clothing, a clean place to live, two “wifeys,” and the love that Dime has been longing to feel. Maybe this can finally be Dime’s family.
But Daddy makes it clear she must go out to the streets to earn money to keep her place. She didn’t mean to become a prostitute, but it happened so gradually that she didn’t realize what she was doing until it was too late.
Dime’s situation becomes too much for her to handle when a new “wifey” joins the family. Lollipop is only 11—and pregnant. When Dime realizes that Daddy doesn’t really love her in the way she needed, she wonders if she can keep living this life. But can she even get out?
about the author
E.R. Frank—writer, clinical social worker, and psychotherapist—grew up in Richmond, Virginia. She wanted to be a writer ever since she was seven years old.
She studied at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York, and earned a Masters degree at the Hunter Graduate School of Social Work in New York City. Additionally, she received a post graduate certificate from New York’s Institute for Contemporary Psychotherapy and became EMDRIA approved as an EMDR consultant.
E.R. Frank has had five novels published, one of which became a television movie. She won the Teen People Book club NEXT Award for YA Fiction with her first novel, Life is Funny. She is an advisory board member of the Child Welfare League of America and of New York City’s Behind the Book and resides in New Jersey with her husband and two children.
However, E.R. Frank isn’t her real name. She’ll never tell what E.R. stands for and says she enjoys feeling important by using a pseudonym.
Source:
Author website
Author biography: Simon and Schuster
Author interview: St. Petersburg Times
Also by E.R. Frank:
Wrecked. Atheneum Books for Young Readers. 2005.
Friction. Atheneum Books for Young Readers. 2003.
America. Atheneum Books for Young Readers. 2002.
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