The Places We Sleep

It’s early September 2001, and twelve-year-old Abbey is the new kid at school.
Again.

I worry about people speaking to me
and worry just the same
when they don’t.

Tennessee is her family’s latest stop in a series of moves based on her dad’s work in the Army, but this one might be different. For the first time, Abbey has found a real friend: loyal, courageous, athletic Camille.

And then it’s September 11. The country is under attack, and Abbey’s “home” looks like it might fall apart. America has changed overnight.

How are we supposed
to keep this up
with the world
crumbling
around us?

Abbey’s body changes, too, while her classmates argue and her family falters. Like everyone around her, she tries to make sense of her own experience as a part of the country’s collective pain. With her mother grieving, and her father preparing for active duty, Abbey must cope with the tragedy on her own.