First published 2024
Ferris Wilkey stands at the edge of fifth grade watching her family fall apart. Her younger sister Pinky has decided to become an outlaw and terrorizes their town. Uncle Ted has moved into their basement after leaving Aunt Shirley, spending his days painting what he calls a history of the world. Her grandmother Charisse feels sick and sees a ghost lingering at her bedroom door. The ghost doesn't want to take Charisse away. She has wild plans that turn everything upside down. Ferris must handle Pinky's criminal activities while Uncle Ted sends her to spy on Aunt Shirley. Her father fights an invasion of raccoons. The ghost keeps making impossible demands. Charisse always says every good story is a love story, and Ferris discovers what that means as her chaotic summer teaches her about family, growing up, and the connections that hold people together.
Genres: fiction, literary-fiction, contemporary, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Bedroom, Basement
Period: Fifth Grade, Summer
240 pages · Kindle Edition · Candlewick Press