Under the guise of mentor and muse, a frustrated writer and her
ambitious teenage protégé take an illicit summer road trip fraught with
racial and sexual tension. This is a compelling psychological novel
about social norms, artistic ambition, and obsession. Maggie Barnett
works in the media center of a school in Flint, Michigan where she
meets Taezha Riverton, an aspiring teenage writer. After discovering
that Maggie is also a writer, Taezha turns to her as both mentor and
friend. Alone and childless, it's not enough for Maggie to take Tae to
restaurants and poetry slams. Although Tae’s mother has nothing against
Maggie, she is less than thrilled when Maggie proposes to take her
daughter on a summer road trip. Permission is never explicitly granted,
but shortly after school is out for the summer, Maggie and Tae head for
the Southeast.
