Ten-year-old April Ellis is spending a week of her summer in Collins with relatives she hardly knows. Between eccentric characters, fried chicken lessons, and run-ins with the neighborhood troublemakers, April has plenty to navigate. But the hardest challenge of all? Facing the dark—and the fears that come with growing up.

Full of humor, heart, and food you can almost taste, How to Fry Chicken & Ditch the Nightlight explores how a girl far from home discovers belonging, bravery, and the truth that there’s nothing in the dark that isn’t there in the light.