Lost and Found

Darcy is in 10th grade and lives with her mother, her grandmother, and her sister, Jamee, who is in eighth grade, in an unnamed city in Southern California. Grandma recently had a stroke and is very rarely lucid, and Mom works long hours as a nurse. Mom constantly worries about being laid off and being unable to pay for the small apartment the family lives in.

Darcy and her sister rarely get along, as they are opposites in personality. Darcy prefers to keep her head down and focus on school, while Jamee is more interested in getting into trouble. Darcy tries to look out for Jamee, but Jamee always resists her efforts.

On the way to school, Darcy tries to focus on the positive. She is looking forward to a school science project in which she gets to research a tidal pool. She hopes to be paired with her one and only friend, Brisana Meeks, but instead, she gets paired with Tarah Carson. Tarah has a flamboyant and loud personality that immediately grates on Darcy’s nerves. Tarah picks up on this and accuses Darcy of being arrogant and judgmental, adding that she has no friends.