by Carol Penacci (Author)
While eavesdropping on an adult conversation Oriel overhears something she'd rather not know: her mother Winona's life may be in danger because she has witnessed a murder. This unwanted knowledge only complicates the fear and confusion Oriel is facing as she anticipates turning thirteen in the shadow of a strong Sioux Indian mother and a white father who does not claim her. She wants nothing more for her birthday than to mend the strained relationship with her father. All summer long she is bounced between her two older sisters: Fanchon, beautiful and promiscuous; and Beta, ambitious and criminally inclined. Oriel's journey--a coming of age story set inside the beauty of the Oregon coast the summer of 1988-- will make you laugh and cry as she gains the courage to confront her father and becomes one of the true heroines in American literature.