Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen

Ruby hasn't had the best of childhoods. Her dad left when she was young and she barely remembers him. Her mother has slowly fallen apart ever since, crawling ever further into her alcohol bottle. And her sister went off to college leaving her alone with this poor excuse for a mother, never to be heard from again.

With one more year before graduation, Ruby finally sees a future of independence ahead of her. Until her mother disappears and social services picks her up. Now, the sister who abandoned Ruby ten years earlier is taking her in. And everything Ruby thought she knew about her childhood is about to change.

Lock and Key by Sarah Dessen isn't just about abandonment. It's about family and all the various definitions of it. It's about the impact people can have on your life, both positive and negative, and the part you play in allowing either to happen. It's  about the struggles of being a teenager, no matter your history.

Appropriate for 13+, Lock and Key gets  3 1/2 bookmarks.