This one got me. There were tears. Not often, mind you, but enough to make me want to keep the tissues handy.

Leigh's grief drives this novel. After losing her mother to suicide, she struggles to come to terms with her new reality. The opening line of the novel is "My mother is a bird." This bold declaration and the fact that she admits she's the only one who thinks so is an indicator that all is not well. The mother-shaped hole in her life consumes her, surpassing even the troubles of teenage love.

There is a very strong supernatural element in this novel, which I thoroughly enjoyed. The spirits speak, although perhaps not in the ways one first expects. Ancestors care about those still walking the earth and one in particular is determined to help Leigh navigate the murky depths of grief.