A refreshingly witty and moving novel that uncovers the true meaning of ""home""

""Mom's left us a lot. She left us in Dayton, Denver, and Detroit. She left us in Tucson and Teaneck. I make it sound like a song, but it's true. Except that we never did live in Tucson, I just needed another T-town. Anyway, if we had lived in Tucson, she would have left us there too. Unlike Dad, she always does come back.""

Aggie B. Wing and her brother, Thorne, are relocating again. This time their writer-mom is dropping them off for the summer in Ludwig, Maine, with their estranged ninety-one-year-old grandfather who receives phone calls in his leg and happens to sleep all day. Still, Aggie is determined to find some good in this move. What's not to like about a two-bit town in the middle of nowhere with only a Quikstop, a funny old church called Our Lady of the Wilderness, and a tiny island full of cat bones?

Once Aggie begins exploring the town and meets the indelible Mad, however, things start to get really interesting. Could there be miracles at play in Ludwig? More specifically, could this quirky town be home for once and all? In a stunning debut novel, Charlotte Agell proves that finding your way home can happen in the most unexpected of ways.

""Written with humor as well as reflection, Aggie's breezy, first-person account of her experiences makes engaging reading."" --Booklist

""[Aggie's] takes on Ludwig, her family, home, and what it means to be a teenager are fresh, funny, and self-aware."" --Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

""[Agell] creates in Aggie a wry observer whose narration is punctuated by the Zen sayings of her totem, a clay Chinese fisherman names Old Henry, and augmented by her sketches to make an altogether fresh and pleasing package."" --Kirkus Reviews

""This novel has strong and winning characters; excellent pacing; and a lazy, nostalgic setting."" --School Library Journal

""Small town America never looks as good as when Agell (as Aggie) writes about it."" --Kliatt