'We're Mennonites. As far as I know, we are the most embarrassing sub-sect of people to belong to if you're a teenager Ironically, they named this place East Village, which, I have learned, is the name of the area in New York City I would most love to inhabit.'
Nomi Nickel is sixteen, rebellious and irreverent, and lives with her father in a strict Mennonite community in East Village, Manitoba. 'Half of our family, the better looking half, is missing,' she explains, as she reveals the heartbreaking truth behind her sister and mother's disappearance.
Her uncle, known as The Mouth, is head of the church, responsible for the harsh laws and cruel 'shunning'. Mennonite laws ban fun in the form of rock music, TV and movies, yet that doesn't stop Nomi falling for the town's most unsuitable boy - Travis.
In such a secretive and god-fearing community, Nomi finds it impossible to find ways to express her many and growing passions.
