Parked: a novel

For fans of Rebecca Stead and Joan Bauer comes a scrappy, poignant, uplifting debut about family, friendship, and the importance of learning both how to offer help and how to accept it.

"A big-hearted novel with characters I wish were my friends in real life." --Gennifer Choldenko, author of the Al Capone at Alcatraz series

Jeanne Ann is smart, stubborn, living in an orange van, and determined to find a permanent address before the start of seventh grade. Cal is awkward, sensitive, living in a humongous house across the street, and determined to save her. Jeanne Ann wants Cal's help just about as much as she wants to live in a van.

As the two form a tentative friendship that grows deeper over alternating chapters, they're buoyed by a cast of complex, oddball characters, who let them down, lift them up, and leave you cheering. Debut novelist Danielle Svetcov shines a light on a big problem without a ready answer, pulling it off with the perfect balance of humor, heartbreak, and hope.

"Insightful [and] touching...Not to be missed." --Karen Cushman, author of The Midwife's Apprentice
"You won't be able to put it down. Trust." --ScaryMommy.com
"For readers of Dan Gemeinhart [and] Katherine Applegate." --The Children's Book Review
"Relatable and beautifully told." --Commonsense Media
"Pertinent....Honest...Uplifting...Fresh." --PW
"Utterly of this moment." --Jack Cheng, author of See You in the Cosmos
"Absorbing and warmhearted." --Annie Barrows, author of the Ivy & Bean series
"Realistically hopeful...Recommended." --SLC
"Sharp...Perceptive." --BCCB
"Unforgettable." --Brightly