Lock and Key

Ruby has spent a long time relying on no one but herself. Handling everything alone has become second nature to her, and she has never expected anyone to step in and help.

Then her life changes. She goes to live with her sister, and suddenly there is a room of her own, a good school and a future that looks promising. For someone used to scraping by, all of this stability is as unfamiliar as it is welcome.

There is also the boy next door, who is hard to ignore. Letting him in would mean trusting someone, and Ruby is not sure she knows how. Lock and Key, a young adult novel by Sarah Dessen, follows a guarded girl as she learns to accept help, open up to other people and imagine a future for herself.