Kim Purcell

Jessie thought a one-week break before graduation would help her and her boyfriend, Chris, clear their heads. But when Chris disappears during a run by the river, everything changes. The police say he ran away, but Jessie knows better. Chris was popular, a star athlete with a full-ride college scholarship, and just weeks ago, he was attacked by boys from a rival school. Chris is one of the only Black kids in a depressed paper mill town, and Jessie is terrified of what might have happened. Before his disappearance, Chris would write Jessie a weekly love letter. Now, Jessie is writing one of her own, telling Chris everything that's happening while he's gone. As she searches for answers, Jessie must confront her fears, her guilt, and a past more complicated than she wants to admit.

Hannah believes she's being brought from Moldova to Los Angeles to become a nanny for a Russian family. But her American dream quickly spirals into a nightmare. The Platonovs force Hannah to work sixteen-hour days, won't let her leave the house, and seem to have a lot of secrets — from Hannah and from each other. Stranded in a foreign land with false documents, no money, and nobody who can help her, Hannah must find a way to save herself from her new status as a modern-day slave or risk losing the one thing she has left: her life.