Nellie Peck's thirteenth summer is not what she had hoped. She is gangly and awkward, desperate to know if she will ever be lovely like her mother and big sister. The family is in financial trouble, the hardware store that has been in her father's family for decades on the verge of closing. Her big sister Ruth is determined to find 'her real father', the man who got her mother pregnant as a teenager then moved to Australia with his family. There's the whole issue of boys and how to attract them and what to do if you did.
Her mom is working long hours and the family needs to rent out the apartment attached to their house. Their long term tenant has moved out and the new applicant is named Dolly. Dolly dances at the local strip joint and in different times her application would be an automatic no but now any tenant is better than no tenant. Another new face has joined Nellie's world as well. Her grandfather runs the local junkyard. One day when she goes to visit she finds a man there. Max is a drifter and her grandfather is letting him live at the junkyard in exchange for doing the work that he is no longer able to do. Nellie is fascinated by Max who rarely talks at all and loves his dog.
Then tragedy strikes. Dolly, who has had a string of lovers, is found murdered in her apartment, discovered by Nellie and Max who is replacing a water heater at the house. Max is arrested and Nellie will be the star witness at the trial. Nellie just knows Max is innocent but everyone else seems to be convinced of his guilt. Can she save the day?
Mary McGarry Morris has written an interesting coming-of-age novel. Nellie is a mass of contradictions who charms her way into the reader's heart. All the family issues that are Nellie's whole world resolve satisfactorily and she learns that what she wants to happen is not always going to happen nor will it always be the best solution. This book is recommended for readers of literary fiction.
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