Coming of Age

Dicey has had to be more mature than most girls her age because of the difficulties her mother faces in raising them and then her mother's abandonment of the family due to mental illness. Dicey takes charge of her siblings and safely moves them over many miles of unfamiliar country in order to find a place where they will be taken in and cared for. Dicey has had to be the grownup, the one who takes responsibility for everyone else. It is a difficult thing for Dicey, but more difficult is learning to let go.

Dicey finds herself forced to allow her grandmother to take over the role of caretaker after coming to live with her. At first Dicey finds it difficult, but in time she finds a delicate balance between responsibility and childhood. Dicey learns that she can help in some ways while allowing her...