Two recently orphaned siblings embark on an unforgettable cross-country road trip in search of their place in the world.
When her mother dies, fifteen-year-old Mari is now the only one who can care for her super-smart and exasperating, on-the-spectrum younger brother Conor. Desperate to avoid being split up or put back into the "System," Mari decides to set out in the old family Honda sedan to find their estranged grandmother, the only person in the world who might take them in.
Seizing upon Conor's obsession with the upcoming total eclipse of the sun, Mari convinces him to come along on a cross-country trajectory that will include a stop to view this spectacular event. As the two orphaned siblings journey from the snarls of LA traffic through the backroads of the Midwest and on toward their final destination in New England, Mari learns a lot about herself, about the world around them...and about their place in it.
Bill Harley, seasoned storyteller that he is, makes you laugh at one moment and then hits you with soul-wrenching sorrow the next. His spot-on narrative takes you straight into Mari's head and heart, where you experience her deep yearning to belong, her bewilderment as she tries to negotiate the complicated highway of life, and her tentative steps toward loving and trusting the people around her.
