Outskirts Press, INC.

A coming-of-age novel that will capture your heart.

Hazel E. Barnhill fled into the darkness, boots crunching in the snow, lungs filling with cold air. An image of her mom, head bowed over the kitchen table on folded arms, broke Hazel’s heart. These were the first moments of her life as a 16-year-old pregnant, emancipated teenager, although she didn’t know what that meant yet… Hazel’s remarkable journey begins when her friend Jack gives her a ride on the darkest night of her life. She encounters safe people and places and treacherous circumstances as she walks the road of young adulthood as a single mom. Along the way, she works, studies, nurses, loves, and struggles with loss. Redemption and healing play a big part in her journey, and with her faith in God, stubborn hope, and the good friends she meets along the way, there is never any doubt that this resilient young woman will go the distance. Road Girl is the inspirational story of a girl who learns to reconcile her past, embrace her future, and make her way out of the wilderness of abandonment and abuse.

In the old days people might have called her a loose woman but she didn't want money, she just wanted someone to hold her. Hazel had to be careful using the curling iron. One wrong move and she scorched the ends of her fine blonde hair. She layered black mascara pretty thick on her eyelashes. There was a delicate balance between making her blue-eyed baby face look a little older or make her more closely resemble a hooker. Seldom giving anyone personal information was safer. Meanwhile she woke up in some might strange places, and when everything was still and quiet, she clutched her things to her chest and slipped out the door. She hailed a ride with the first dark SUV that passed her. Hazel got in the car and gave the lady her address. It was an oddly peaceful ride and she didn't want to get out of the car when they arrived at her apartment. Slipping into her own bed, she looked at the Bible on the end table as she turned off the lamp. Her last thought before drifting off to sleep was that maybe the lady was an angel.