Heidi Ayarbe- Compromised

Heidi Ayarbe- Compromised
Book Jacket-
Maya’s life has always been chaotic. Living with a con-man dad, she’s spent half her life on the run. Whenever her father’s schemes go wrong, Maya finds a scientific way to fix it. But when her dad ends up in prison and foster care fails, Maya grasps at her last possible hope of a home: a long-lost aunt, who may not even exist.
So Maya formulates a plan, and with her wits, two unlikely allies, and twenty dollars in her pocket, she sets off in search of this aunt, navigating the unpredictable four hundred miles from Reno to Boise. Life on the streets, though, becomes a struggle for survival- those scientific laws Maya has relied on her whole life just don’t apply. And with each passing day, Maya’s definition of right and wrong are turned upside down when she’s confronted with the realities and dangers of life as a runaway. She can’t help but wonder if trying to find her aunt-and some semblance of stability- is worth the harrowing journey or if she should compromise and find a way to survive on her own.
My Review-
Very compelling and captivating novel. I would recommend this not only to young adults but to anyone.
Maya’s mother committed suicide when she was five. She has lived with her dad since. Taken from city to city running from her dad’s schemes, and headed for the next scam. This is the only life that Maya knows and doesn’t mind that it’s just her and her dad. She doesn’t even mind spending holidays at the local Denny’s. Well, that is until the IRS show up and start repo-ing everything: Car, electronics, house, and then eventually her dad. He’s stuck in prison, while she’s at an orphanage with no way out.
She’s wants to just wait it out, hoping he can talk himself out of it like he always has. Not this time. This time he signs her away to the state who want to put her in foster care. She takes the only clues she has (some letters from her moms sister) and sets out on a journey to find a place to call home and someone to call family. This journey shows her more family than she has ever asked for, although not as she had planned.
10/10.