This book really affected me as a kid, and it felt like a secret treasure -- simultaneously taboo and comforting. About a prematurely physically developed and sexualized girl whose wretched parents kick her out. She hitchhikes around, passing for older so that she can work. At a restaurant job she takes in a young tough-guy kid, falls in love with a coworker, and reclaims herself. Heartwrenching, dark, and hopeful. ( )