Book Description

Melvina Brown has become an expert at holding it together. On a horse farm in California, she’s raising two boys—smart, tough Archie and sweet Theo, who dreams of playing baseball, and doesn’t let the fact that he has only one arm stop him. A perfect PTA mom Melvina is not—her boots are too dirty for that. She’s just taking it one day at a time, with a little help from her boyfriend, her twin sister and her dad. And while her heart is still heavy sometimes with the loss of her beloved brother Henry, who long ago went mysteriously missing, Mel keeps his spirit nearby, making him a larger-than-life hero in his nephews’ imaginations, creating tales of his epic adventures for their bedtime stories. It’s a life that works pretty well—until her estranged husband shows up at their door, wanting to make up for lost time with his sons. A family that plays ball in a graveyard and stays up late to watch rare flowers bloom will never be ordinary. But together, the tempestuous, mismatched Browns stumble through anger and confusion to laughter and understanding, discovering that sometimes love really is the only answer. "A charming family of misfits struggling to make sense of what life's dealt them. Sit back—and be sure to grab a box of tissues—and enjoy."—Jo-Ann Mapson, author of Hank & Chloe and the Bad Girl Creek series "A writer with a poet's eye, a philosopher's mind, and a mother's heart."—Jo-Ann Mapson