The Mandy Project, The Mandy Project

Amanda Goodchild is on the run again! It's not as if she hasn't traversed this road before - her life is a nightmare on a good day. But this time is different - returning is not an option! Her so-called foster father will kill her -'hands down certainty! Thoroughly beaten and bruised - having suffered physical, emotional, mental and sexual abuse, "Mandy" is street-wise and tough as they come! Trusting no one, she relies on a myriad of survival skills, sharply honed from necessity. Mandy literally epitomizes the reality of one who has fallen through the proverbial social services cracks. Amanda Goodchild is determined to survive! Del Greenwood is helpless to erase the bitter taste of failure, as she gazes intuitively into a pair of defiant dark eyes, spitting fire across her desk. In her role as Head Supervisor with Child and Family Services, Del had seen almost every horrible case imaginable, but her gut instinct is screaming at her now - this girl is in peril. She can't prove it and for damn sure, the feisty teenager isn't talking. Left with no choice but to send her back for the interim, Del Greenwood is determined to get through to one Amanda Goodchild! As a woman of fierce conviction who is known to leave no stones unturned - a dog with a bone ethic, Del Greenwood sets out to find young Amanda, who fled her home just the morning following their fateful meeting. Wheels are set into motion from various sources, careening down pathways of hope and peril simultaneously. As Del rides out the storm, despite insurmountable odds, will Mandy take the leap - the hand that reaches out to help? Or will she remain imprisoned within her sordid comfort zone? Though all characters are fictional, the novel is based on true events. This is a story of tragic sorrow - yet a tale of shining hope - a changing of stars!