Nowhere to Go But Tomorrow

In 1948 eight-year-old Kay is at Oakdale, the Lapeer State Home in Michigan where people of all ages with physical and mental aberrations come to live. Kay wonders why she is here, and if she will ever leave. She cares for an infant who will not let anyone else feed her, and she has friends—especially a boy her age she calls “Toe.” When Kay and Toe grow close as teens, she discovers the Home has scheduled surgery that will change her life. With the clothes she’s wearing and the file containing her life story, Kay flees late one dark night. Toe tries to chase after her, but a fateful accident robs him of the chance to seek the love of his life. Will Kay ever experience the kind of family she has longed for? Nelle Cooper’s Nowhere to Go But Tomorrow is a historically accurate coming-of-age story about identity, belonging, and learning to choose one’s own destiny.