Something very terrible has happened to Aubrey. At first we don't know what, but she is living alone in the family house, eating cheese and crackers and with only a goldfish for company. Her grandmother finally twigs that something is wrong and collects Aubrey and takes her back to her home in Vermont. Gradually we discover that Aubrey's dad and younger sister have been killed in a car crash, and that her mum, ill and depressed, has disappeared, no one knows where. Aubrey's negativity is completely understandable, and she finds life in her grandmother's rambling house, with all its memories of family holidays, hard to take. She begins writing letters to her sister Savannah's imaginary friend, Jilly, and, later, a therapist at her new school suggests she might also want to write to the people who have meant the most to her. In a series of flashbacks, we meet her family in happier times, and she relives important days. Her new best friend, Bridget, and her family who live next door, are great helps, as is her gran and the school therapist, portrayed here with sensitivity, and when mum is found and is beginning to get better, Aubrey must make a mature decision about where she want to live. This is not an easy read. Often bleak, it is also truthful and realistic. Aubrey learns to forgive her mum for leaving her, and even to understand that the hurt was unintentional, but must take her time about returning home. A real page-turner.