Girl in the Shadows by Virginia Andrews

April Taylor isn't a little girl any more - but who is she really? The home she once shared with her parents and her older sister Brenda might have been filled with turmoil, but it was the only home she had ever known. Now, with nowhere to go in the wake of losing her mother and father, April has to grow up fast as she embarks on an odyssey of heartbreak and betrayal.

It is mere chance that leads her to the secluded home of a kindly elderly woman and her deaf teenage granddaughter, Echo. Here, April finds a refuge from her mixed-up life, and from the confusion that severed her relationship with Brenda, after an encounter with Brenda's girlfriend, Celia. But when a dangerous couple arrives with greedy intentions, April discovers they will take advantage of her very special friendship with Echo to get what they want. Now, April's survival depends on being true to the one person she's never fully accepted: herself.

Following on from April Shadows the central character once again being April Taylor, taken in by the kindly old lady and then there is Echo a deaf girl who is being tutored by Tyler, who at first seems quite un-friendly especially towards April and Echo takes a liking to him.

April still has quite a low opinion of herself in that she is overweight and that just adds to her problems, and that would seem the least of her problems when the elderly lady's daughter, Rhona arrives. Rhona, is also Echo's mother who left her daughter 10 years ago and has barely contacted her in all that time and arrives with her boyfriend, Skeeter in tow.

Overall a good read, as good as April Shadows I think and not as disturbing as the last series by VA I read.