My mother made herself responsible for everyone else’s happiness, and in the process she crossed the line between right and wrong. But I can’t hate her for it. Whatever she did, she always loved me. I am still, and always, her daughter.
Acknowledgments
I am deeply grateful to the friends and family members who read this book at various stages in its creation and encouraged me to keep going, especially Lynn Lasner, Suzanna Musick, Lorraine Flett, Nancy Staltman, Rochelle Worthing, Mia Cingolani, Patti Roth, Rebecca Johnson, Betsy Brill, Liz Watson, and Sue Bostick.
The members of the San Francisco Writers Group deserve recognition for the support and feedback they’ve given me, particularly Scott James, Maria Strom, Arlene Heitner, David Gleeson, Shana Mahaffey, Erika Mailman, Joe Quirk, and Tamim Ansary.
A special thank you goes to agent Andrea Somberg for loving my book and the character of Ashley (even in the beginning of the novel when she’s not easy to love). Thanks to Celeste Fine for picking up the torch.
I also am grateful for the kindness and enthusiasm of everyone at Bloomsbury, especially my editor, Julie Romeis, who demonstrated amazing forbearance.
I would also like to express my appreciation to Janet Fitch and Joyce Maynard, whose words and writing inspired me, and to Margo Perin, for helping me get started at her workshop in San Miguel Allende.
And thank you, Charles Michelson, for loving me and helping keep the wolf from my door as I wrote and rewrote this novel.
By the Same Author
Melodie Bowsher grew up in Kansas and received a degree in journalism from Kansas State University. After graduating, she went to work in the Wall Street Journal’s Dallas bureau, where at age twenty she was the first woman ever hired by that newspaper as a staff reporter. Melodie later moved to San Francisco, where her two California kids provided the research for this, her first novel.
Visit the author at
www.melodiebowsher.com
Praise for My Lost and Found Life
A New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age
“My Lost and Found Life is so well-written that Ashley seems like a real person. It’s written like an autobiography, and I almost forgot that it wasn’t a true story…. A reminder that you might be surprised at what you can do when you run out of options.” —TeensReadToo.com
“Part sexy romance, part urban survival adventure…. Ashley’s first-person narrative is funny … and readers will be caught up in the riches-to-rags turnaround in a materialistic world.” —Booklist
“Bowsher convincingly develops the unique voice of a young woman sliding from being a San Francisco suburban ‘Valley Girl’ into homelessness…. [A] captivating story.” —SLJ
“A riveting adventure … empowering teen readers.” —VOYA
Copyright © 2006 by Melodie Bowsher
First published by Bloomsbury U.S.A. Children’s Books in 2006
Electronic edition published in October 2012
www.bloomsburyteens.com
All rights reserved. You may not copy, distribute, transmit, reproduce, or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (including without limitation electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, printing, recording, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
Published by Bloomsbury U.S.A.
Children’s Books 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010
This electronic edition published in 2012
Distributed to the trade by Holtzbrinck Publishers
The Library of Congress has cataloged the hardcover edition as follows:
Bowsher, Melodie.
My lost and found life / by Melodie Bowsher. —1st U.S. ed.
p. cm.
Summary: When her mother is accused of embezzling a million dollars and vanishes,
spoiled, selfish Ashley must fend for herself by finding a job and a place to live.
[1. Abandoned children—Fiction. 2. Homeless persons—Fiction.
3. Mothers and daughters—Fiction. 4. Coming of age—Fiction.] I. Title.
PZ7.B6795My 2006 [Fic]—dc22 2006006432
ISBN: 978-1-61963-022-2 (e-book)
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