My Heart is Hurting by S.E. Reed

Jinny Buffett is lonely... She's never had the comfort of a white picket fence with a loving family. Her subsidized apartment in Hollywood Florida echoes with the void of her dead Daddy, and the nights drag long into twilight while her Mama works the block outside the Margaritaville resort. It's idealistic Ms. Fleming, who's brave enough to come knocking first. She wants to see Jinny rise up and use her ace scores to escape the wheel of poverty, convincing Jinny to start a school book club, where she finds the friends and boyfriend she never knew she needed. But when her Mama spirals out of control and threatens her entire existence, it's Jinny's Everglade ancestors who arrive in a mist of magic, bringing the swamp and hope with them.

Young Adult • Diversity Representation/Mental Health • Contemporary Fiction

Mayflower20 author

In My Heart is Hurting, S.E. Reed masterfully tells the heart-breaking and eventual heart-warming story of smart and sassy Florida native 15 y/o Jinny Buffett. To cope with the harsh realities of her mother’s neglect and abandonment, Jinny secretly pours herself into her love of