Having spent her childhood trying to save her depressive sister Min, Hattie Troutman moved to Paris for some distance. But when she gets a call from her 11-year-old niece Thebes, Hattie has no choice but to fly back to Canada. Realizing that Min is no longer capable of taking care of her kids, Hattie decides to look for Thebes’ and Logan’s dad – who had also taken off years ago. And thus begins a road trip which takes the three of them and the reader through many questions, uncertainties, tears, smiles, surprises – and all the way to California. Unsure at first how to deal with the kids, Hattie lets them be themselves and deal with the situation their own way, and she ends up giving them just what they need by being there for them. Despite the rather tragic setting this story is very entertaining, amusing and touching. It is filled with original dialogues, observations along the road and Hattie’s childhood memories. I had gotten so close to the characters that reaching the end of the book left me with a sense of loss, wishing my road trip along with Hattie, Logan and Thebes hadn’t ended yet.