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Young Adult Fiction. Young Adult Literature. HTML:I am not who I say I am, and Marla isn't who she thinks she is. I am a girl trying to forget. She is a woman trying to remember. Allison has run away from home and with nowhere to live finds herself hiding out in the shed of what she thinks is an abandoned house. But the house isn't empty. An elderly woman named Marla, with dementia, lives there �?? and she mistakes Allison for an old friend from her past named Toffee. Allison is used to hiding who she really is, and trying to be what other people want her to be. And so, Toffee is who she becomes. After all, it means she has a place to stay. There are worse places she could be. But as their bond grows, and Allison discovers how much Marla needs a real friend, she begins to ask herself - where is home? What is a family? And most importantly, who is she, real… (more)
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Allison runs away from an abusive father,
Allison ends up helping care for Marla, who has periods of mental clarity, and many more of confusion. But they grow close, with Allison keeping her presence a secret from others who visit Marla, until an accident forces Allison to go for help.
There are so many issues besides abuse that Crossan subtly explores through her spare verse, including the tendency of some people to fall through the cracks in society, mistreatment and neglect of the elderly, the disease of loneliness, and the restorative power of love and care.
Evaluation: It is evident why this author has won so many awards for her writing. Most impressively, she has made a potentially very depressing story into one of hope and healing.
When they meet, Marla calls her Toffee and soon they bond in some fashion, helping each other survive the tough times. Being Toffee is a book of hope and it pulls at the heart strings. Since some it takes place around the Christmas holidays, it's a good book to maybe put some of the holiday spirit of giving and caring back into our lives.