After graduating from high school in a small Tennessee town, Retta dreams of making it to Nashville and becoming a country music star. But even with her beautiful voice, how can she get there? And who will listen? How can she leave her parents, who barely speak to each other? Retta does make it to Nashville, though, and she sleeps in her car; works a day job; and finds kindness, friendship, and good luck, as well as violence and cruelty. Country music fans will grab this for the details of the steel guitars, banjos, and fiddles and the legendary landmarks; at the start of each chapter, there is a page-long bio of a famous star, from Dolly Parton to Johnny Cash, that discusses the musicians' hardscrabble lives and successes. Retta's personal story is filled with classic young-adult conflicts. Should she go back and help Daddy after Mama leaves? The beautiful song she writes about the push and pull of home has a message every teen can relate to: “Just me in the middle, wondering who I should love.“