Me, Myself and Ivy

Olivia “Livi” Breton lived a happy life in Sutcliffe, Massachusetts, with her mom, dad, and little sister. But in an instant, everything was ripped away.

Now, instead of starting seventh grade with her childhood friends, she’s settling into her grandparents’ Connecticut home—while dealing with the devastating grief of losing her entire family. And just when she finds her place among a group of girls at her new school, Livi’s life deals her another painful blow when it turns out one of her new friends isn’t who she seemed to be.

Feeling lost and hopeless, Livi’s only solace is in the dusty attic of her grandparents’ two-hundred-year-old house and the antique odds and ends scattered within. Inspired by Anne Frank, she begins penning a secret diary with letters to her sister, Ivy, keeping it safe in a special hiding place.

But it’s only when hope and guidance begin to come from an unexpected source that Livi finally finds the confidence she needs to pick up the pieces of her life—in an inspirational tale of tragedy, survival, and the endurance of the human spirit.

Susan L. McElaney is a lifelong Connecticut resident and retired nurse. Throughout her thirty-six-year career, she worked at a hospital for terminally ill cancer patients, as well as the mental health ward of a women's correctional facility-valuable experiences that have contributed heavily to her writing.

McElaney is the coauthor of two memoirs: Stolen Halo, published in 2012, and With Broken Wings, published in 2013. Me, Myself, and Ivy is her debut novel.

A mother of three and grandmother of five, she currently lives with her husband in Norwich, Connecticut.