There have been a number of novels written about "children in peril," as Greg Johnson says in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, in his review of Make Believe by Joanna Scott. He continues, "Scott explores not only the aftermath of a traumatic experience but the way family members react differently to the same crisis." Bo, a fouryear-old child, is orphaned. A battle ensues between his two sets of grandparents over who will raise him. Scott is most interested in the emotions and thought processes of her characters during the year after Bo's mother's death.

A Map of the World by Jane Hamilton also deals with family reactions to tragedy. Writing for the Christian Century, Trudy Bush asks, "How can we survive when we are threatened with the loss of all that we value?" The tragedy here is the death of a young child while in the care of...