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Gr 6—8—Abby North, 13, lives in White Lake, 30 minutes from Detroit. She has a crush on her older brother's football teammate and a best friend who is surprisingly nice for being one of the popular girls. Her parents are a little older than some (48 and 55), but overall the Norths are a typical, low-key family-until her father has kidney surgery, after which the c-word comes up. The chapters that deal with her his failing health and its effect on the family are realistic and sensitive, although hospice doesn't come off looking too good (at least not through Abby's eyes). She never fully registered what the final result of her father's illness would be, and she has a meltdown at the funeral home, shocked that his body is there. For a close-knit town, there is little mention of neighbors pitching in, with the exception of precocious and likable Spence, Abby's best friend. The novel spans two and a half years, and after several false starts, Abby and her family are moving forward while still honoring Sam North's memory in the closing chapters.—Maggie Knapp, Trinity Valley School, Fort Worth, TX