When his grandfather's dementia raises the specter of foster care,
Arlo flees to find his only other family member in this genuine,
heartening novel.
Arlo's grandfather travels in time. Not literally -- he just mixes up
the past with the present. Arlo holds on as best he can, fixing himself
cornflakes for dinner and paying back the owner of the corner store for
the sausages Poppo eats without remembering to pay. But how long before
someone finds out that Arlo is taking care of the grandfather he lives
with instead of the other way around? When Poppo lands in the hospital
and a social worker comes to take charge, Arlo's fear of foster care
sends him alone across three hundred miles. Armed with a name and a
town, Arlo finds his only other family member -- the grandmother he
doesn't remember ever meeting. But just finding her isn't enough to make
them a family. Unfailingly honest and touched with a dash of magical
realism, Sarah Sullivan's evocative debut novel delves into a family
mystery and unearths universal truths about home, trust, friendship, and
strength -- all the things a boy needs.