"In her rural Appalachian holler, ten-year-old Misty's closest friends are the crawdads. Misty can speak to them, to the birds, to the creek, to everything outside, and she understands how they think. She knows that if she could just speak to her parents in the same way, she could stop all the fighting. But it's too hard. When her only friend William takes their friendship too far, Misty doesn't know how to get help. This is the story of one tough-as-nails girl whose choices are few but whose imagination is boundless, as her manner of coping with trauma becomes an adventure for everyone in her holler. Written by a survivor of sexual abuse, this is a beautifully honest story of healing and of hope"--