Christin R. (raksha38) reviewed on 10/26/2011 + 203 more book reviews

A tomboy named Frankie has a father who is a Vietnam vet who lost his leg in the war. He does a good job masking his pretty severe depression with humor, but its still too much for him and he ends up killing himself. This book is about Frankies journey through the aftermath of his suicide and its lasting effects on her life. It does a really good job of showing how profoundly something like that can impact you in ways you dont even realize.

Its a very well written book and the characters are very vivid. This is definitely one of those books thats all about the characters, rather than moving a plot from Point A through Point B toward a destination of Point C. Know what I mean? I think Frankies father was especially well done. Even after his death, there are lengthy scenes of him through memories Frankie is experiencing, so you get to see a very nuanced portrait of a man with a lot of charm and love, even as he struggles with pain and darkness in ways that his children were too young to understand at the time.

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