"How about a story? Spin us a yarn."
Instantly, Phoebe Winterbottom came to mind. "I could tell you an extensively strange story," I warned.
"Oh, good!" Gram said. "Delicious!"
And that is how I happened to tell them about Phoebe, her disappearing mother, and the lunatic.

As Sal entertains her grandparents with Phoebe's outrageous story, her own story begins to unfold--the story of a thirteen-year-old girl whose only wish is to be reunited with her missing mother.

In her own award-winning style, Sharon Creech intricately weaves together two tales, one funny, one bittersweet, to create a heartwarming, compelling, and utterly moving story of love, loss, and the complexity of human emotion.

A 1995 ALA Notable Children's Book
School Library Journal Best Book of 1994
Winner of a 1994 Bulletin Blue Ribbon
A Notable Children's Trade Book in the Language Arts (NCTE)
Winner of the 1997 Heartland Award for Excellence in Young Adult Literature
Winner, 1995 Newbery Medal
Notable Children's Books of 1995 (ALA)
1995 Notable Trade Books in the Language Arts (NCTE)
Children's Book Award for Longer Novels (Great Britain's Federation of Children's Books Groups)
Outstanding Books of 1994 for Middle School-Aged Teens (V)
Best Books 1994 (SLJ)
Bulletin Blue Ribbon Books 1994 (C)

Their professional working titles given by the government is Disease Intervention Specialist or DIS, but out on the streets, people know them as the STD Police.

14-year-old Max only has one person he can really talk to. Her name is Ana - also known as anorexia, his eating disorder. Max writes to Ana every day. She feeds on his fears, encouraging him to lose more and more weight. For Christmas, Max gets an unusual present from his older brother Robin: a geocache. He hides it in the forest near their house, thrilled by the anonymity it gives him. Anyone can leave Max a note - and soon, he gets one from the mysterious 'E'. Could it be the Evie, the new girl at school, playing tricks on him? In the midst of a family crisis, Max's eating disorder quickly deteriorates. Ana pulls him further and further away from his family and friends, until he feels totally alone. Can anyone help him find a way out? Drawing on debut author Samuel Pollen's own experiences, this is an unforgettable, uplifting story of one boy's battle with anorexia.