This Is Not a Love Story [Library Edition]

When fifteen-year-old Romeo's mother leaves one day and doesn't return, he finds himself homeless and trying to survive on the streets. Mute and terrified, his silence makes him vulnerable, and one night he is beaten by a gang of other kids, only to be rescued by a boy who pledges to take care of him. Julian is barely two years older than Romeo. After running away from an increasingly violent homelife, he makes some difficult choices and ends up selling himself on the street to survive. Taking care of Romeo changes him, gives him a purpose in life, gives him hope, and though he tries to be strong and keep his troubles with drugs behind him, living as they do is slowly destroying him, and he begins to doubt he can be strong enough. This is the story of their struggle to find a way off the streets and stay together at all costs. But when events threaten to tear them apart, Romeo knows he must find the strength within himself to help Julian (and not let their love story turn into a tragedy).