"A poignant, bittersweet story. Katy is an objective narrator, sharing with the readers what it feels like to move beyond a traumatic loss without losing the memories of love. A gentle, life-affirming tale that deserves to be shared and discussed" - KLIATT

"The honest account of a family's journey of grieving and healing is well portrayed and may be cathartic for children who have suffered their own losses" - School Library Journal

"The heartfelt voice of Katy Sue reveals a family rooted in love and a charming look back at the pastimes, foods, manners, and morals of a half-century ago" - Kirkus Reviews

"Winner of the Milkweed Prize for Children's Literature, this novel has a nostalgic yet spirited voice in the form of main character Katy Sue" -Children's Literature

When eleven-year-old Katy Sue loses her mother, Edna, to meningitis, she and her family must adjust to life without her. The rural farm in the 1940s provides a natural backdrop that is rhythmic and routine but unforgiving, even when a family member dies. The house's haunted emptiness is filled only when Aunt Katherine, Edna's youngest sister, comes to the family's aid, as does Jake, an ornithologist and family friend.

Katy Sue, the youngest of the three children, struggles to define her place in the family and understand what the loss of her mother means for her now. With the guidance of her teacher, Mrs. Breton, Katy Sue begins to contemplate the shape of her family and the farm through drawing, a process that allows her to accept her father's soon-to-be wife, farm life without her mother, and, eventually, her own role within the family.