Through the eyes of 15-year-old narrator Chelsea Silver, Michelle Dalton (Sixteenth Summer) reassures teens that it's possible to experience grief and joy at the same time.
As Chelsea travels cross-country with her two older, more beautiful sisters, she wonders if she's the only one who misses her Granly so acutely. It's the first summer they're spending on Lake Michigan in Granly's home in Bluepointe without her. In her search for solitude, walking the town of Bluepointe, Chelsea discovers a bookstore--and 15-year-old Josh, who works there with his mother, the owner.
Chelsea gets a job waitressing next door to Dog Ear, the bookstore, and she feels closer to her sisters than ever. But then Josh starts feeling responsible for Dog Ear, and thinks he can't keep up with his work and keep Chelsea, too. In the process of making peace with her grief, Chelsea grows up and helps Josh do the same. She realizes she can honor her own happiness while still feeling sorrow for the hole Granly has left, and also that by pursuing her own happiness, she honors her grandmother, too. Both Chelsea and Josh do some growing up in this charming tale of a first crush. --Jennifer M. Brown, children's editor, Shelf Awareness