Sherry Sharples

Sherry Sharples had big plans for her school holidays.

Plans involving skating with her best friend, freedom, and time away from the awkwardness of two separate families. Instead, she is handed over to her father without warning, case first through a slammed door.

His small suburban house is already bursting. Twin toddlers who never stop shrieking. A stepmother so heavily pregnant she barely glances up. An old grandfather who watches everything from his high-backed chair and says very little.

There's no room for Sherry. Not really. And everyone makes that perfectly clear.

Determined to prove she's more than just a nuisance, Sherry throws herself into helping: tidying the garage, minding the twins, hanging out washing. But her efforts don't always go to plan. A ruined set of antique Bentwood chairs. A St Bernard let loose to terrorise the neighbourhood. Twin toddlers painted head-to-toe in white. The washing turned an unfortunate shade of blue.

Then she meets John and J.B., two neighbourhood boys building a go-cart with a stubborn goat named Dufferin and absolutely no expectations of who she should be.

With spectacular mishaps, unlikely friendships, and one emergency that tests everyone, Sherry's boring suburban sentence starts to feel like something else entirely. Something like belonging.