Lucy is an eleven year old, homeschooled genius. She lives with her writer mom and her twin brother (who's even more of a genius) in a small apartment in the city. Add in a new age grandma, a missing father, and a journey to the country to take care of a dying grandfather; and you have all the elements for a coming of age story in the midst of family drama. It's been done before, but never quite like this.
This is a pretty fun book, partly because of Lucy's young voice. Profound insight mixed with youthful innocence makes for a unique perspective on what is, after all, a purely adult drama. What makes it even better is that the author never develops the story quite how you'd expect. She sets up these common literary tropes--the urban, single mom going back to her family in the country, the troubled child coming of age, the quirky relatives, the big family secret--and subtly turns them all on their heads. I won't spoil the surprise by explaining further, but I will say the unexpected twists kept those pages turning until the very end of the book. Sandra Kring is now definitely on my list of authors to watch.
My rating system.
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