Still Here: The Background Girl

By Michael W Hughes

About the Book

Seventeen-year-old Amber Hillstrom has mastered the art of being invisible. She drifts through the hallways of her Michigan high school like a shadow-silent, watchful, unseen. Until a cruel comment in the cafeteria cracks her carefully constructed quiet, and a small act of kindness becomes an unexpected thread toward connection.

With lyrical prose and aching honesty, Still Here follows Amber as she navigates loneliness, self-doubt, and the tentative beginnings of hope. Between journal entries, napkin notes, and sidewalk chalk hearts, Amber begins to wonder: what if being seen isn't the same as being exposed? And what if being known-truly known-isn't something to fear?

This is a story about staying. About softness in a loud world. About the quiet bravery of showing up-one word, one glance, one page at a time.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0FL2CYXQK
• ISBN13: 9798294576066
• Release Date: August 2025
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 260 Pages
• Weight: 0.78 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.0" x 9.0"