Cutest girls in the world? Go to California... ...or so The Beach Boys once told us.

Whether it's the girls, the golden sun, the freedom, or brushing with celebrity near the sea, California embodies many of the ways we've dreamed to the end of the American continent.

But what if you were one of those California girls-and not just someone's storied dream? What if California was only the place you grew up, and you found yourself dreaming inward, towards the heartland and a haven where you'd be free to make peace with your anxious past?

Tania Runyan was that girl. Is that woman. Through her eyes in this novella-length memoir, we get an inside view of 1980s suburban California-and see the struggle to come to terms with a dream that always felt like it wasn't hers.

Book club discussion questions included!