As Far as You Can Go Before You Have to Come Back

2022 International Firebird Book Award Winner - 1st Place, Literary

2022 International Firebird Book Award Winner - 1st Place, Coming of Age

2022 International Firebird Book Award Winner - 2nd Place, Women’s Issues

“With a realistic redemption arc, As Far as You Can Go Before You Have to Come Back is a novel in which a survivor of abuse achieves a gritty, tender coming-of-age and reinvents herself.”  –Karen Ribgy, The Foreward

“A rare novel that shows how easily childhood trauma can be internalized and normalized, distorting our coming-of-age decisions. Hall walks us to a better, more hopeful place. An outstanding debut.” –Jamie Ford, New York Times bestselling author of The Many Daughters of Afong Moy and Hotel on the Corner of Bitter & Sweet

Two much-loved books, The Lovely Bones and The Beach, meet in this "girl and her backpack" story—except that this teenager, Carlie, she isn't traveling.

Carlie steals ten thousand dollars from her abusive parents to get as far from them as possible: Southeast Asia, where The Lonely Planet path of hook-ups, heat, alcohol, and drugs takes on a terrifying reality.

Carlie is taken under the wing of a insightful couple who convince her to come to Japan. Living in Tokyo in the late 1980s, teaching English and practicing tai chi, Carlie has the chance at a journey she didn’t plan for: one to find the self-respect ripped from her as a child and the healthy sexuality she desires.