Empty Streets

I want to go outside. Eri's parents forbid it. Her brother thinks she's crazy. But the feeling is too much for her to deny. For 17 years she has been caged. It's time to escape.
What Eri encounters outside, however, is the opposite of what she'd imagined. Outside, she finds empty streets and people hired to keep them empty. Eri meets Bodhi, another explorer determined to understand the outside world. What seemed simply turns into a complicated puzzle, with both of them piecing together how their world got this way, and how they can keep each other alive.
Their explorations lead them to push farther, into new, silent landscapes. With each risk they find new information, until ultimately they risk too much and Bodhi disappears. Silenced by her fear, Eri has to decide: should she blend back into her normal life? Or should she look for Bodhi?
Eri realizes too late that Bodhi isn't the only one who has been caught.

Jessica Cotter is a high school teacher who lives in a small corner of a small town. She has three exceptionally witty children, one thoughtfully supportive husband and one particularly motivated cat. Her favorite past times are pulling weeds from the garden, filling blank pages with words, and crossing items off to-do lists. She hopes someday to attain a consistent sleep pattern of 8.5 hours a night.