The Honey Thief is a contemporary novel about a woman who must face her past before she can help her daughter. 

Eleven year old Eva is picked up for shop lifting, Eva's 4th offence, the judge warns her that next time she will go to a detention center. Miriam, Eva's mother is at her wits end. Miriam decides it would be better if they moved out of Manhattan to up state New York. They decided together where they would move. They picked a small town where both mother and daughter could get a fresh start. Life is simple and slow, a little to slow for Eva's taste. Eva fights her desire to shop lift most of the time, the urge is so strong. Miriam decides to buy Eva a used bike so she can explore the town and meet new friends. All through this Miriam has a secret of her own that she will not, cannot tell any one not even her own daughter. Than Eva meets a nice older man named Burl who helps Eva get grounded. They experience mother-daughter relationship that goes through troubling times and Burl helps them through it. 

It's interesting to watch how two people who are physically put together can be so emotionally far apart. It's real life, and like real life sometimes it takes a stranger to bring them together. The path they take makes for an interesting read, it may seems slow at times, but stick with it, it's worth it.