Breaking the Skin

Book excerpt: Sloane Hartley is one of those who was born knowing. Eighteen and too self-aware, she walks the fine line between analyzing her world and being a part of it. A breakdown at college and a love affair with a former teacher release the ire that simmers beneath her surface; she becomes depressed and eventually suicidal. Trying to maintain a normal facade, she becomes increasingly secretive and lost until she knows she must claw her way back out if she wants to live. Sloane's humor and cynicism throughout proves that the human spirit overcomes all, and that you really never know what is in the heart of another human being.