Maddie

Maddie is a 12-year-old girl who lives in Colorado with her parents, stepparents, and half-siblings. Maddie enjoys spending time with her friends, as it provides her with an escape from her life shuttling between homes and feeling excluded by her parents and their new families because of the bond they share. When she plans a sleepover with her friends, behind their parents’ backs, she believes she is on the cusp of being a responsible teenager who is more able to direct her life and do what she wants with her time. An unexpected disaster necessitates evacuation and Maddie is the only one who can attend the sleepover and is thus left behind when her family leaves.

Maddie initially cannot believe that she has been left behind and she expects her family to return quickly, but her hope begins to wane as the days turn into weeks. She finds...