SOLVED. YA 90s Book (middle Schooler?): [s]

[Akila]

Okay, so this book is about a girl whos mother is mean to her -verbally abuses her, hits her. She is scared of her mom, she has two younger brothers and a father who drives trucks for a living.

Through out the book you find out more about the girl and the mothers relationship. You find out that the mother had a fiancé who passed away in a plane accident (he was a pilot) and so her younger brothers are her half brothers, she never called her father anything but his name which I think was Dani, and the mother remarks once that the girl loves him more than her. Also, I think after the mother told the girl everything she went to her room and cried and the mother tried to come and you know comfort her but the girl instinctively recoiled from her touch, the mother asks why, and the girl says "because I'm afraid you'll hit me." And the mother cries. I think that's it, oh! And in school there's a scene where she's playing in the blacktop and she's thinking about her mother.

Thanks!

[bookel]

Hmm, can't recall if all details fit, but to rule out if not?

Don't Hurt Laurie!
by Willo Davis Roberts
Laurie is physically abused by her mother; can she escape, and will anyone believe her story?

[Ann aka Iftcan]

Don't Hurt Laurie for the clicker for Bookel's suggestion.

[Akila]

I think this might be it! But when I was looking through the book I didn't find any mention of the name Dani or anything about a plane.

I also remember the girl I think was called Charlie. And she thinks at one point that she won't be able to share swimming clothes with her half brother. Or something to that effect. I remember that the mother and daughter try to reconcile towards the end of the book.

Thanks for all the help by the way! This book is close but I don't think it's The One.

[Akila]

I also remember there was a scene where the mother and daughter were in the daughter's room and the mother reaches for her but the daughter flinches away and the mother is like why do you do that I'm not that bad am I?

[SparksofEmber]

Do you remember anything about the cover?

[SparksofEmber]

Fly free. "Shy thirteen-year-old Shari, abused at home by a mother who resents her, is befriended by a neighbor who shares her love of birds and the out-of-doors... as a terrifying accident and a secret from the past threaten to tear apart her family... She learns that the man she always thought was her father really isn't. She longs to escape from her problems by flying away to freedom like the birds she loves to watch.


It's available to borrow as a free ebook at OpenLibrary if you want to check.

[SparksofEmber]

I just double-checked - the dad who raised her is named Zeke. "yeah, he liked planes. Liked to show off, too, always ready to take a dare. How he died was he tried to break the free-fall record and he went to long without opening his chute."

[Akila]

Yes!!! This is it!! Thank you so much!!