When fifteen-year-old Lyric moves from rural Virginia to Flint, Michigan, with her father and older sister, Summer, at first it seems that everything is going to go well. Lyric and Summer relish exploring their new neighborhood shops together, and they enjoy getting their new home in order. Best of all, Summer seems to be giving up some of the eccentric habits that made her stand out in her Virginia hometown. But soon Summer again starts showing signs of mental illness, and her condition worsens. She gradually becomes a stranger to Lyric and her father, and a danger to herself. White’s moving novel set in 1955 deals realistically with the challenges a family faces when a loved one suffers from an illness for which there are no easy cures. At best, Lyric and her dad can continue to love and support Summer by remembering her as the person she once was while they try to help the person she has become. (Ages 13-16)

By the author of the Newbery Honor book Belle Prater's Boy

It is the mid-1950s, and Lyrics familys dream is finally coming true -- they are moving from the backwoods of southwest Virginia to Flint, Michigan, where her father hopes to get an assembly-line job for a car manufacturer. Thirteen-year-old Lyric has always been close to and admired her older sister, Summer, who is pretty and popular. But in their new hometown, Summer unexpectedly and drastically changes. She becomes remote, speaks gibberish, stops taking care of her appearance, wont go to high school, and then seems to have hallucinations. Lyric and her father try to cope with the devastating effects of Summers mental illness, but, sadly, there is no bringing the old Summer back. Ruth White has written a heart-wrenching novel which, despite the sad and serious subject matter, offers readers humor and hope and most of all love.