When seven-year-old Maya Reed steps off the school bus and finds an empty house, she does what any brave child would do: she packs her backpack and starts walking toward the city lights on the horizon.
“A tender, unflinching novel that stays with you long after the last page.”
The Daily Reader
What you’ll find inside
Family, however it’s found
Blood isn’t the only thing that makes a home. Maya’s journey shows how kindness from strangers can build a family.
Courage in small hands
Bravery isn’t always loud. Sometimes it’s a child with a backpack, taking one step at a time.
Hope that outlasts the dark
Even in the longest search, a mother’s love keeps the porch light on.
Read the first chapter
Chapter One: The Road
The bus pulled away in a cloud of dust, and Maya stood at the end of the driveway longer than she needed to. The house was quiet in the way houses are when no one is coming back soon. She counted the windows twice. All of them were dark.
She adjusted the straps of her brown backpack, the one with the broken zipper her mother kept promising to fix, and looked down the road. At the far end, beyond the hills turning gold in the evening light, a city glittered like it was waiting for her. “Okay,” she whispered. “I can do this.”
“I read it in one sitting and cried twice. Maya is a character I will never forget.”
Sarah M.
Verified reader
“Beautifully written and deeply moving. Janette Hollins finds light in the darkest places.”
David L.
Book blogger
“A perfect book club pick. We talked about it for hours after the last page.”
Priya K.
Book club host
Meet Janette Hollins
Janette Hollins is an author and storyteller whose writing explores family, resilience, and the quiet courage of ordinary people. She grew up in Southern California, where the long roads and golden hills of her childhood inspired this novel.
When she isn’t writing, Janette mentors young writers and volunteers with local literacy programs. Lost But Not Forgotten is her debut novel.