For Eva Brown, life feels lonely and small. Her mother, Shirley, drinks and yells all the time. She's the target of the popular mean girl, and her only friend doesn't want to talk to her anymore. All of it would be unbearable if it weren't for her cat, Toofie, her beloved nohkum and her writing, which no one will ever see.

When Nohkum is hospitalized, Shirley struggles to keep things together for Eva and her younger brother, Marcus. After Marcus is found wandering the neighbourhood alone, he is sent to live with a foster family, and Eva finds herself in a group home.

Furious at her mother, Eva struggles to adjust — and being reunited with her family seems less and less likely. During a visit to the hospital, Nohkum gives Eva Shirley's diary. Will the truths it holds help Eva understand her mother? (From HighWater Press)

Wanda John-Kehewin is a Cree writer, poet, fiction author and film scriptwriter. She is the author of the graphic novel, Visions of the Crow. Her other work includes the poetry collections Seven Sacred Truths and In the Dog House, which won the World Poetry Foundation's Empowered Poet Award. Hopeless in Hope is her new YA novel.