A chronicle based on four years of reporting follows five teenage girls as they come of age in one of the most challenging and geographically isolated regions on the Eastern seaboard--Washington County, Maine. Washington County, Maine. Willow, Vivian, Mckenna, Audrey, and Josie are teenage girls caught between tradition and transformation in this remote region. For four years Georges followed their journeys of heartbreak and hope in uncertain times: the pain and joy of life in a region whose rugged beauty and stoicism mask dwindling populations, vanishing job opportunities, and pervasive opioid addiction. Their stories remind us of the value of timeless ideals: strength of family and community, reverence for nature’s rule, dignity in cracked hands and muddied shoes, and the enduring power of home. -- adapted from jacket

Prologue -- Daybreak. The downeast life ; Beginnings ; Girls gone fishing ; Pillars ; Reverence ; On the horizon -- Dilemmas. The game changers ; Frannie ; Half-hearted tragedy ; Upwind ; Digging for gold -- Across the bridge. Home ; Adrift ; Searching ; Moneyball ; Soaring -- The way life should be. Powered by lobsters ; Beyond the Sunrise Trail ; Something better ; Regaining faith ; Fighting back ; Anchored ; Found -- Epilogue.