Lily's Story

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

* Top 5 finalist - Chatelaine Awards 2015

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* Top 5 finalist - Dante Rossetti Young Adult Novel Awards 2015

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* Winner of Honorable Mention Medal - Global Ebook Awards in Popular Literature Fiction 2014

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* Shortlisted finalist -Writers' Village International Novel Award 2014

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* Semifinalist - Kindle Best Indie Book Awards 2014

 

When 15-year-old Lily Sutton steals underwear from Walmart, she still doesn't get her parents' attention. The crotchety old judge who is supposed to impose a fine takes one look at her private school uniform, dyed black hair and Goth-style makeup, and allocates her 50 hours community service at a retirement home. He thinks she will learn something. She disagrees.

 

On her first visit, Lily meets Alice, an elderly woman with an acerbic tongue who wants to escape, and her daughter ,Karen, for whom she feels an instant warmth. She also meets the head nurse, Melanie, who takes an immediate dislike to her. Melanie and her daughter, Torrin, have a reputation as bullies, and Lily is their new favorite target.

 

If you don't have a close parental bond, how do you form positive attachments? Will an instantaneous decision to steal cheap knickers set Lily on a new path?

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5 STAR REVIEW by Anne-Marie Reynolds from Readers' Favorite Awards:

 

"Just Going by Jianna Higgins is a wonderfully told story with several life messages. It's about bullying, it's about learning to love, not just those around you but yourself as well. It's about looking at the hand life dealt you and learning to play it the right way. I was hooked from page one and didn't stop reading until I had taken in every word. It's a really well-written book, in easy to understand language and with a great storyline. I am looking forward to reading other books by this author, including other stories in the series."

 

 

REVIEW of Just Going by Michelle Spring, Royal Literary Fellow at Magdalene College, Cambridge:

 

"It's impossible not to like Lily, the central character in this manuscript, whose distrust of other people and instinct for survival are vividly portrayed. The relationship between people of different generations is convincing, and the writing has energy and conviction."

 

Michelle Spring was the judge in the Writers' Village International Novel Contest 2014 in which Just Going was chosen as a short listed finalist.