Learning not to drown.
This book is about a girl named Clare Tovin who has a really messed up family. Her brother, Luke Tovin, gets caught stealing and goes to jail. Clare later finds out that he didn't just steal, that he sexually assaulted girls. Clare loves her brother and tries to see the best in him, even when others can't. Her mom always takes Luke's side, even though Clare is in the right. Her mom is obsessed with proving Luke's innocence and making sure that Luke is not in trouble. Luke got Clare involved in an illegal receipt scam without her knowledge, and she got questioned by the cops. From that moment on, everyone thought she was the one who was stealing and even some of her friends believed it. Clare shut herself down and started ignoring her friends. Then on Thanksgiving LUke comes home and he is high as a kite, and Clare's mom would not let her call the cops, even though Clare could get into trouble for it. Peter tries to get past Luke and Luke pushes Peter and a glass bowl shatters and cuts up Clare's feet. Luke gets mad and stabs a fork into Peter's arm, and their mom still takes Luke's side. Her mother was mad at Clare for being where the glass was and cutting her feet up. Luke gets caught by the police because a neighbor saw him and called the cops. Luke is also charged with another sexual assault and stealing a car. Clare's mom stole almost 10 thousand dollars out of Clare's bank account to pay for Luke's bail, and Clare took the money back from her mom. When Clare's mom found out, she called Clare a selfish brat. Then Clare reconnected with her friend Drea and Drea helped Clare hide the money. IN the end of the story, Luke is in jail for 27 years, and Clare has decided she doesn't want to talk to him and she is in trouble for that. Clare is going to UCLA even though her mom forbid her to go anywhere rather than the town state college. Clare leaves her parents and heads to college with Drea just 45 min away. Clare has accepted that her family will always have a skeleton with it, and has decided to not hide it in the closet anymore.
