Starred review from July 28, 2008
In her new novel, Kring (The Book of Bright Ideas
) crafts a beautiful, witty story that rings with heartbreak, hope and laughter. Lucy McGowan is a 12-year-old genius with a photographic memory, an even more brilliant brother, Milo (IQ: 180), and a single mother, Tess, living in Chicago. What Lucy has that her brother doesn't is curiosity and “people smarts,” a quality that propels her to unearth the hidden relationships and buried secrets of her family. An imaginative and headstrong girl, Lucy finds herself on a grim family visit to her sickly, estranged grandfather in Timber Falls, Wis. Witnessing her mom's unshakable hatred for her dying father, Lucy begins to investigate her family's past; her love for the sick old patriarch she knows is challenged repeatedly by what she finds out about the angry, abusive man he used to be. Kring's brilliance lies in her powerful reversals and revelations, taking readers and characters on a dramatic, emotional roller coaster.
August 1, 2008
Precocious 11-year-old Lucy McGowan lives an isolated life with her mother, Tess, and her twin brother, Milo, who has an astronomical IQ. Homeschooled, the twins rarely leave their dilapidated Chicago apartment, so Lucy is thrilled when her mother reluctantly takes her grandmother, calledOma, back to Timber Falls, Wisconsin, to take care ofTesss dying father. Lucy sees this as an opportunity to ask about her family, especially her father. But her mother speaks little about the family andrefuses to tell Lucy anything about her biological father. Preternaturallyperceptive, Lucy recognizes that something important keeps her mother from sustaining relationships with men, particularly whenLucy entertains thoughts of having a father in her life. Lucys quest to find out about her father unearths the many skeletons in her family history and changes thefamily dynamics. Kring explores the far-ranging effects of family traumawith a deft hand as her child narrator uncovers the past, bringing light and hope. A touching novel.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)