FALLING INTO PLACE

Margaret’s life is happy enough until all at once things seem to fall, like dominoes slowly knocking one another down. First her father remarries, gaining Margaret a new stepmother and three new sisters. Then Margaret’s grandfather, Tad, gets sick and her grandparents have to sell their house and move into a retirement community. Margaret’s new stepmother announces that they are going to have a new baby adding to the chaos in the house. And then Tad dies. Desperate to escape the new life that seems to be swallowing everything in its path, Margaret convinces her father that she should go and visit Gran. Unfortunately, when she arrives she finds that not only does she have to share her grandmother’s attention with her young cousin Roy, but that her grandmother has changed from a vibrant and warm woman into a drawn, frightened, and bitter shell. The distraction from her own problems proves to be just what she needs as together Margaret and Roy attempt to bring their grandmother back to the woman she they knew. At once warm and thoughtful, this tale investigates the complexities of loss, blended families, and friendship. Poignant and true. (Fiction. 7-10)