Kaya, who is adopted and multiracial, has just been released from a Youth Detention Centre and is carrying a painful secret: she was sexually abused by a neighbor for years. Kaya keeps away, repeatedly disappearing into a life of sex work and addiction. Meanwhile, her sister, Beth, uses food and a rediscovered love of magic tricks to escape her own troubles. Though both girls struggle through darkness and pain, they eventually find their way towards a moment of illumination and healing.

This powerful YA novel is rooted in the tragic life of the author's sister, Sarah-a victim of serial killer Robert Pickton and the subject of Maggie de Vries's Governor General's Literary Award-nominated memoir for adults, Missing Sarah. Sarah's experiences as an abused child and teen runaway inspired the character Kaya, and she appears in the story when Kaya meets her on the streets. Set in 1998, Vancouver's missing women form a subtle backdrop for the story.