Recently one of this reviewer's students investigated the topic of extended family members obligated to raise children of ill-equipped, irresponsible parents, a problem that is quite real and growing. Fusco, an award-winning journalist and first-time novelist, tackles the issue admirably as readers meet narrator Cornelia, self-described "bibliophile" and "shadow." She is relegated to middle school remedial classes because she chooses not to speak, concealing a mysterious stutter. Cornelia observes, "When you have a daughter, you don't dump her off somewhere. Parenting 101." But dumped she is—unceremoniously with her Aunt Agatha who uses an outhouse, hangs laundry on oak branches, and serves fiddleheads. While Cornelia's transient existence with mother and boyfriend was less than ideal, the new environment is unsettling. In ninety-eight concise chapters, readers witness Cornelia's growth with a rural, eccentric substitute parent who knows how to care. Early in the novel, Cornelia confesses, "I quit talking . . . Squish the shame down . . . Keep it hidden there. No one gets it, anyway." Her shame of a "look-away" mother is further identified and confronted as Cornelia shapes a life with Agatha. Fusco's poetic prose reveals developed characters, poignant understatement—think minimalist Voigt or Bridgers. Initially hooked by Cornelia's woebegotten metaphor, "My life, if it were a clothesline, would be the one with a sweater dangling by one sleeve, a blanket, dragging in the mud, and a sock, unpaired and alone," readers journey gently along in quiet hope. There are no elaborate chases; no cataclysmic events are necessary. VOYA Codes 4Q 3P M J (Better than most, marred only byoccasional lapses; Will appeal with pushing; Middle School, defined as grades 6 to 8; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9). 2004, Knopf, 176p., and PLB Ages 11 to 15.