She Rides ShotgunShe Rides Shotgun

"Polly McClusky is eleven years old, too old for the teddy bear she carries with her everywhere, when she is unexpectedly reunited with her father, Nate, fresh out of jail and driving a stolen car. He takes her from the front of her school into a world of robbery, violence, and the constant threat of death. And he does it to save her life. Nate made dangerous enemies in prison: a gang called Aryan Steel has put out a bounty on his head, counting on its members on the outside to finish him off. They've already murdered his ex-wife, Polly's mother. And Polly is their next target. Marked for death, she will have to fight and steal to stay alive, learning from the most frightening man she knows--her father. Nate's and Polly's lives soon become a series of narrow misses, of evading the bad guys and the police, of sleepless nights in motels. On the lam, Polly is forced to grow up fast. With barely any time to mourn her mother, she learns how to take a punch and pull off a drug-house heist, and finds herself transforming from a shy little girl into a true fighter. Nate, in turn, learns what it's like to love fiercely and unconditionally--a love her's never quite felt before."--