There were two moons last August: one almost full at the beginning when Mom was alive and our lives were normal - and then a full cheater moon at the end, that looked down so beautifully on the world when everything was awful and changed and never would be the same again". A year after her mother's death, 16-year-old
Sidonie spends sleepless nights playing cards with her cat,
Bogey . During the day she lies around and reads under the nose of her 19-year-old sister,
Roberta , who angrily scrubs floors already clean and cooks meals that are inedible. Their father, a doctor, comes home only when he is too exhausted to stay at work any longer. Only the jazz piano playing of
Roberta's boyfriend,
Phil , brings relief to the long summer.
Kieran , a 16-year-old boy, comes to their lakeside community and
Sidonie begins to discover what she needs to pull her life and family together again.
Martha Brooks skillfully re-creates the world of 1959 in the small town of Bison Valley and reveals the joys and pains of adolescence in this moving and often humorous novel about healing and hope. She deftly explores the themes of mourning, family, friendship, and love.
