Give Me Your Pain

Carmen was only twelve when everything changed.

After losing her mother, the person who once made her feel safe and loved, Carmen is left with a father who makes a decision she never expected.

He sends her away.

Now Carmen must live with Aunt Shelia, Uncle Jeff, and their children, Maria and Anthony—a family that should have welcomed her with open arms.

Instead, they make her life miserable.

And home isn’t the only place she has to face them.

At school, Maria and Anthony seem to have everyone wrapped around their fingers. They embarrass Carmen, mistreat her, and make sure she never forgets that in their world, she’s the outsider.

But Carmen isn’t completely alone.

There are people she will meet who change her life in ways she never could have imagined. Friendships will form. Hearts will break. Secrets will come out. And as Carmen grows older, the frightened twelve-year-old who was dropped into someone else’s home will have to learn how to stand on her own.

Because sometimes the people who are supposed to protect you… are the same people who cause the most pain.

And Carmen has carried enough of theirs.