A compelling story of survival from a four-time Newbery Honor winning author At the end of I Hadn't Meant to Tell You This , Lena and her younger sister, Dion, set off on their own, desperate to escape their abusive father. Disguised as boys, they hitchhike along, traveling in search of their mother's relatives. They don't know what they will find, or who they can trust along the way, but they do know that they can't afford to make even one single mistake. Dramatic and moving, this is a heart-wrenching story of two young girls in search of a place to call home. "This taut story never loses its grip on the reader."-- Publishers Weekly , Starred "Lena's rough voice . . . speaks eloquently for the tenacity of the human spirit. . . . Once again, Woodson writes . . . about difficult issues of childhood and leaves readers encouraged by humanity's potential for insight, compassion and hope."-- School Library Journal "A tender and loving story of . . . encountering much goodness in the world as well as ultimately a place to belong in it."-- The Bulletin , Recommended The companion to the Coretta Scott King Honor-winning "I Hadn't Meant to Tell You This, now available in paperback. At the end of I Hadn't Meant to Tell You This, Marie's friend Lena and her little sister Dion run away to escape their abusive father, leaving Marie full of longing and readers full of questions. Now those questions are answered. After cutting off all their hair, Lena and Dion leave one evening as the sun sets. Disguised as boys, they set out in search of their mother's family. But will they ever make it? Whom can two young girls trust? They can't afford to make even one mistake. Now, Lena tells what happened to the two girls out in the world, and of their search for a place to belong and the home they dream of and deserve. Jacqueline Woodson (www.jacquelinewoodson.com) is the recipient of a 2023 Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship, a 2020 MacArthur Fellowship, the 2020 Hans Christian Andersen Award, the 2018 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, and the 2018 Children’s Literature Legacy Award. She was the 2018–2019 National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, and in 2015, she was named the Young People’s Poet Laureate by the Poetry Foundation. She received the 2014 National Book Award for her New York Times bestselling memoir Brown Girl Dreaming , which was also a recipient of the Coretta Scott King Award, a Newbery Honor, the NAACP Image Award, and a Sibert Honor. She wrote the adult books Red at the Bone , a New York Times bestseller, and Another Brooklyn , a 2016 National Book Award finalist. Born in Columbus, Ohio, Jacqueline grew up in Greenville, South Carolina, and Brooklyn, New York, and graduated from college with a B.A. in English. She is the author of dozens of award-winning books for young adults, middle graders, and children; among her many accolades, she is a four-time Newbery Honor winner, a four-time National Book Award finalist, and a three-time Coretta Scott King Award winner. Her books include Coretta Scott King Award winner Before the Ever After; New York Times bestsellers The Day You Begin and Harbor Me ; The Other Side , Each Kindness , Caldecott Honor book Coming On Home Soon ; Newbery Honor winners Feathers , Show Way , and After Tupac and D Foster ; and Miracle's Boys , which received the LA Times Book Prize and the Coretta Scott King Award. Jacqueline is also a recipient of the Margaret A. Edwards Award for lifetime achievement for her contributions to young adult literature and a two-time winner of the Jane Addams Children's Book Award. She lives with her family in Brooklyn, New York. An Excerpt from Lena:         "You crying, Lena?" I felt Dion's little hand on my shoulder.         "What would I be crying for?" I gave my eyes one more wipe and glared         at her.         Dion shrugged. She took a step back from me, hunkered down on her own         knapsack. We must have been a sight--two kids in flannel shirts and jeans         and hiking boots at a Trailways station--Dion chewing on her collar, me         with my head in my hands.         She swallowed like she was a little bit scared of what she was gonna say.         "Where we going, Lena? You tell me that and I won't ask you anything else--ever         again if you don't want me to."         People on the outside who didn't understand would probably look at me         and Dion and say, "Those kids running away from home." But I knew we were         running to something. And to someplace far away from Daddy. Someplace         safe. That's where we were going.         "Mama's house," I whispered, my voice coming out hoarse and shaky. "We         going to Mama's house."         Dion shook her head. "Not the lies we tell people--the true thing. Where         we going for real?"         "Mama's house," I said again, looking away from her.         "Lena?" Dion said "Mama's . . . dead." . . .