Originally published on Reedsy Discovery

Synopsis

Sixteen-year-old Nia has a history of running away in epic fashion. In 8th grade she ventured across Eastern Europe! But when Nia and her mom visit her grandmother in California for the summer, they both assume her juvenile escapist days are over. But her broken family’s lifestyle in San Francisco soon becomes dull and offensive, and Nia meets an intriguing young troubadour named Jesse. In typical teenage style, things change very quickly. Nia gets inspired by Holden Caulfield from Catcher in the Rye. She’s fuelled by news that her sage-like friend from her first fugitive adventure, Kurt, is dying only hundreds of miles away in San Diego. Add a lingering attraction to Jesse, and Nia’s rebellious California road trip becomes much more urgent.

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Nia, a 16-year-old semi-delinquent, has a rocky relationship with her mother— who she has recently traveled to the U.S. with for a week— and an even rockier, tense relationship with her grandma. Nia herself is of Bulgarian heritage, and her grandma, Grandma Ross, is a born and raised American who refuses to understand Nia as she is. Nia’s mother, also American, is constantly torn between taking the side of her mother or defending Nia from her insults and judgements.

Read the full review here: https://reedsy.com/discovery/book/nia-and-the-dealer-dominic-carrillo