Don’t Make Me Stay

While things are escalating in her residential placement, Aleesha discovers that her mother is in hospital in the nearby city. Not long after this, she is being transported to the same hospital that her mother is in. She doesn’t know it yet, but she isn’t prepared for the challenges that lie ahead. Choosing to go her own way brings so many unknowns. She’ll come to discover that staying in out-of-home care had provided some advantages.

Don’t Make Me Stay is a story of one girl’s search for identity and belonging. This search is sprinkled with occasional urges for retribution, as Aleesha struggles with her inner demons that keep wanting to bubble out.

Fluctuating between humour and raw and unfiltered rage, Don’t Make Me Stay is a coming-of-age story about hope, grit, determination, and generally winging it. Because staying still for too long, can become extremely uncomfortable, very quickly.