Description: There were two moons last August -- one that was almost full at the beginning when More was alive and our lives were normal, and then a big full cheater moon at the end, one that looked down so beautifully on the world, when everything was awful and changed and never would be the same again".

A year after her mother's death, 16-year-old Sidonie still spends sleepless nights playing cards with her cat, Bogey. During the day she lies around and reads under the nose of her 19-year-old sister, Roberta, who angrily scrubs floors that are already clean and cooks meals that are inedible. Their father, a doctor, comes home only when he is too exhausted to stay at work any longer. Only the jazz piano playing of Roberta's boyfriend, Phil, brings some relief to the long, hot summer. Then Kieran, a 16-year-old boy, comes to their lakeside community and Sidonie begins to discover what she needs to pull her life and family together again.

Martha Brooks skillfully re-creates the world of 1959 in the small town of Bison Valley and reveals the joys and pains of adolescence in this moving and often humorous novel about healing and hope. As Sidonie struggles with her on-again, off-again friendship with her sister, her loneliness at her father's frequent absences, her memories of her mother and her mother's distant sisters, and her antipathy and attraction for Kieran. Brooks deftly explores the themes of mourning, family, friendship, and love.

"...the shimmering, sleepy midwestern atmosphere is just plain luscious". -- Publishers Weekly

"A book that belongs on the shelf with the few, but essential, novels that are both intelligently written and appealing to YA audiences". -- School LibraryJournal

"A deeply engaging story, to be savored and reread". -- Kirkus Reviews

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