Fourteen year old April was left in a dustbin as a newborn by her mother, rescued by a young lad working in a nearby pizza restaurant, and went on from there to being fostered, adopted, fostered again, sent to a children's home and then to a special school before being fostered by Marion - who really cares for her. After a row with Marion, she spends her 14th birthday remembering her past experiences, desperately wanting to find her own mother, and visiting the places she has lived before. Her adoptive mother's suicide, her pushing a bully downstairs and almost killing her, getting into trouble with a girl gang, all these things are brought out during a troubled and highly charged day that does end happily. April will always have problems, her self-esteem has been shattered by her turbulent life, but she has great love and support too. No one else writes about children's problems and their inner turmoil like Jacqueline Wilson.