This insightful treatment of the impact of death on a family is centered on eleven-year-old Tessa, whose older brother, Scott, has died in a drunk driving accident. Tessa’s mom begins to withdraw after the tragedy—at first just emotionally, and then literally as she retreats to their summer place alone. As Tessa and her dad carry on at home, Tessa feels anger and resentment at both her brother and her mom, even as she misses them both. She’s especially confused when she dwells on the things about Scott she didn’t like -- shouldn’t she only think good thoughts about him now that he’s gone? She finds help and solace from an understanding teacher and an elderly neighbor, and in fits and starts her family begins to heal. There are no huge swings of emotion in this even-handed novel, just quiet grief and gradual emergence. Tessa learns that intense sorrow doesn’t dissipate quickly, but with time and honesty, her family has hopes of once again being whole. (Ages 10-14)

Written with quiet intensity, this beautiful and spare novel examines what happens to Tessa's family after her fifteen-year-old brother is killed in a drunk-driving accident. Set adrift, Tessa is forced to find a way to keep going . . . even as her mother drifts further and further from her. Like Getting Near to Baby, this is an unstinting, compassionate, and deceptively plain story of a damaged family forging a way out of its grief.