The Lollipop Girl — Shelia E. Bell

Fourteen-year old Polly Mathis is a quiet, shy teenage girl with no friends. She is often teased by a rowdy group of boys at her school, Fairley High. But being teased at school isn't a big issue for her. It's what she faces once she leaves school and returns home to a mother who is too busy to be a mother. Because of her in and out male friends, Polly's mother wants Polly, who is her only child, out of the way so Polly spends most of her time living in the upstairs attic. When Polly meets Sharra, a new girl at school, they develop a close friendship. Sharra introduces Polly to her family and for the first time since her daddy left, Polly sees what a real family looks like, acts like, and sounds like. It makes her long for her daddy, the daddy who used to be in her life, who used to shower her with love and lollipops....until her mother sent him away. Will Polly be able to escape the mental abuse of her mom and find her daddy? Will she ever experience the real love of a family and someone to truly care about her? The Lollipop Girl addresses issues of mental and verbal abuse that unfortunately many children and teens face in troubled homes today.