Scarlett Elizabeth Nell Waverly has a story to tell and it's as big as her name. Like most stories, hers is divided into interwoven parts. The first part starts when she's young and her family buys a beach house on the Florida Gulf Coast. That's where she meets and falls in love with Julian Rose, a handsome biracial boy with a scarred face and a whacky, secret-keeping family. Just like her own. But not quite. Young Lizzie Nell's family disapproves of her friendship and budding romance with Julian Rose and they take drastic measures at keeping them apart. Julian also has a story, a story as magical as his haint blue eyes, only he's still trying to figure out where it starts and how it ends. Not long after he turns nine and learns a little about his mother's disappearance, Julian sets out to write her messages, stuffing them inside empty rum bottles and tossing them into the Gulf. Although he doesn't yet know it, there is magic in his words, a magic as remarkable as his connection to the little girl down the beach. As time moves on, and the two blossom into adolescence, Lizzie Nell can no longer live the life her family has chosen for her. She runs away-from school, from her unrelenting mother, and even from her name-setting out for New Orleans where she and Julian have planned to make a life together. But some things have a way of finding us, like our scars, the truth, and despondent mothers. The first book in a two-part series, THE SCARS WE CHOOSE is a coming-of-age story about how we define love, the ways in which we cope when overcoming adversity, and the consequences that can arise when we allow other people, places, and events to affect our decisions, and ultimately, our happiness.