Jeraline’s Alley Hardcover – 2021 by Becca C Smith

It’s all well and good that Jeraline’s favorite storybook characters come to life to give her great advice-although it isn’t so helpful when she’s trying to compose herself around her workplace crush. But then her grandma gives her a gun for protection, and Jeraline accidentally shoots an attacker in the one place that embodies every one of her nightmares: the alley.

Trying to figure out what’s real and what isn’t, Jeraline embarks on a journey that changes her life forever. Will her hopeless infatuation ever be anything more than a fantasy? Did she kill someone? Will she ever live a life without fear? All because of an alley, all because of a gun. But through it all, Jeraline realizes her life is in fact full of whimsy, self-discovery and love, and even through the darkness she finds the light she’s been looking for: herself.