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Description
At sixteen, a gifted cellist and prodigy travels across the country with her father, hoping to finally meet the mother who abandoned her as an infant. The road trip forces her to confront the clash between her father's freewheeling 1960s spirit and the empty space left by her mother's silence, while her music becomes a way to probe family secrets. As she moves toward a possible reunion, she must decide whether forgiveness and a true sense of home are within reach.
Quick Summary
If you know a teen who's into music or has ever wrestled with family stuff, this one's definitely worth picking up. The main character is a seriously talented sixteen-year-old cellist who's spent her whole life wondering about the mother who left when she was a baby, and the cross-country road trip she takes with her dad to finally meet her is full of unexpected moments some genuinely funny, some really moving. What I love is how Brooks doesn't make this a heavy-handed drama; there's humor and warmth woven through the harder stuff about identity, abandonment, and what it means to forgive someone who hurt you. Kids who connect with character-driven stories about chasing your passion will probably see themselves in this one, though parents should know it touches on divorce and parental abandonment. If you've read something like "The Last Summer of Camp" or other coming-of-age stories about complicated families, you'll get a similar vibe here. It's a solid read for older middle schoolers and high schoolers looking for something with real heart but not too heavy.