He paints a realistic, startling portrait of what it’s like for a high school girl with bipolar II to get through each day. Garvin not only captures the intricacies of teenage emotion perfectly, but also successfully integrates the painful, complex symptoms of Ellie’s mental illness into the more mundane concerns of her daily life. When Ellie has the opportunity to help her father gain a second chance at fame, she reluctantly pushes forward and does everything she can to save his reputation. With money running low and no health insurance, Ellie and her father, who has a heart condition, are in constant medical danger.

But the most challenging hurdle is her bipolar II disorder. After dropping out of high school and enrolling in an online program, Ellie fights against spotty Wi-Fi and impossible time constraints to tackle her academic work. Living in an old RV with her father, a magician of lapsed fame, she struggles to pay for food, gas, and the basics as they travel the country looking for gigs. But when her lie is exposed, she’ll have to confront her illness and her choices head-on to save her father-and herself.įor Ellie Dante, life presents constant obstacles. With the help of her online-only best friend and an unusual guy she meets along the way, Ellie makes a plan to stage Dad’s comeback. Then Ellie receives a call from a famous magic duo who offer fifteen thousand dollars and a shot at redemption: They want the Uncanny Dante to perform the illusion that wrecked his career-on their live TV special, which shoots in Los Angeles in ten days.Įllie knows her dad will refuse-but she takes the deal anyway, then lies to persuade him to head west. Now Ellie lives with her dad in a beat-up RV, attending high school online and performing with him at birthday parties and bars across the Midwest to make ends meet.īut when the gigs dry up, their insurance lapses, leaving Dad’s heart condition unchecked and forcing Ellie to battle her bipolar II disorder without medication. Her father was a famous stage magician until he attempted an epic illusion on live TV-and failed. Sixteen-year-old Ellie Dante is desperate for something in her life to finally go right.

The Lightness of Hands by Jeff Garvin