Twyla is playing in a field hockey tournament, preparing to start high school, and dreaming of making varsity when the nausea begins. At first, she blames dehydration. But once school starts, her symptoms worse. A lot.
When Twyla asks her dad about her late mother’s medical history, he shuts down the conversation. Then her best friends become weirdly cagey after she gets sick, ghosting her outside of school and whispering when she’s around. She definitely doesn’t want to tell her neighbor and lab parter what’s going on, as he’s suddenly giving her butterflies. But worst of all, doctors won’t listen—they’re convinced it’s a minor digestive issue or stress. Frustrated but determined, Twyla sets off to find answers on her own.
When Twyla discovers a potential diagnosis in her mom’s records, she feels a twinge of hope. Maybe she can find her own reasons. But can she do it before everything in her life shatters…including Twyla herself?
"I wrote Stronger at the Seams as a form of therapy, but it is also my love letter to everyone who has ever felt broken. It is a coming-of-age story about family, undying love, hardship-but humor during hardship-and learning to advocate for yourself. With hardship comes scars. But our scars are the seams in our life where we have pieced ourselves back together again. And there is strength and beauty in that."
