Review Detail

Reader reviewed by Stephanie

The summer before her senior year looks like its going to be Betsys worst. First, the traumatic event of her mother dying of breast cancer. Then, her boyfriend Brandon leaves her for another girl whom hes been seeing behind her back. She grudgingly works at Morrisville, a historically reenacted village, and her father and young brother Ben are slowly falling apart (they wind up eating takeout and fast food every night).

Betsy feels like the loneliest girl in the world, but as she moves through the stages of grief, she begins to expand her once limited worldview. She befriends Liza, her fellow coworker-slash-classmate whom she has never spoken to before because they ran in completely different crowds. She also gets to know another coworker, James, an intelligent carpenter whom she believes she can fall in love with. If only the situation wasnt so&complicated.

This is a wonderfully done story. Sometimes I dont like how it doesnt seem to focus enough on the past, but Altebrando masterfully ties everything together in a satisfying conclusion. This book is, above all, real. It is a wonderful read that I highly recommend.