An 11-year-old girl narrates this award-winning first novel. Ellen witnesses her beloved mother's suicide and is forced to live with her alcoholic father. Unable to stand his behavior, she runs away to live with her art teacher. A painful story of a young girl's search for identity and love.

"An exhilarating and endearing tale of an 11-year-old orphan, who calls herself "old Ellen," moving from one woebegone situation to another with spirit and determination."

One of the most talked-about and endearing first novels in years bears the story of a female Huck Finn and her search for a true home.