It was refreshing to read a work of fiction in which there was no major emphasis on a romantic relationship.

I enjoyed both J. Norman's and Epiphany's stories, but I wish each had been a little more involved. The ending was a bit abrupt and easy, and it certainly lacked closure for Epiphany's side of things.

I did appreciate the author's sense of humor.

"...I'd purchased from some wandering Girl Scouts their entire load of cookies as well as the wagon, on the promise that they would tell other neighborhood children I'd stolen their goods, and that this was no longer a safe place to conduct door-to-door sales." p 40 ( )

I really enjoyed this book. The relationship between Epiphany and J. Norm shows that you can be friends with someone from a different generation. J. Norm needed to repair the relationship with his daughter and Epiphany needed "family" to care about her. They are a couple of lost souls who help each other find their way. Enjoyable. ( )

Dandelion summer by Lisa Wingate
Book starts out with an old man, hospitalized and his daughter Deborah is making arrangements for him to come home and having a housekeeper there to tend to his needs and the house.
Jay Norman had just lost his wife and didn't take his heart medications...book also follows Epiphany Jones who is just 16 and had been forced to move to this area due to the death of her caretaker. She learns that her father is not who her mom had told her, but she's a black Italian and her father's family runs a restaurant in the town.
Her mom has many secrets hiding in the closet that she's started to uncover. She doesn't feel welcome at all but she's been told she will be making meals for the old man. Epi and Jay form an alliance against Deborah and work on projects together. He knows all about rocket ships and other technical things. She needs guidance in that and other personal things...
Mysteries arise and they jump to find the clues-with the help of technology.
Amazing how their lives are entwined!
I received this book from National Library Service for my BARD (Braille Audio Reading Device). ( )

I'm a bit torn about rating this book. On the one hand, the characters were fascinating, the plot intriguing for the first half of the book, and the writing good. On the other, the plot in the second half was way too convenient and it became apparent this is what is currently being termed "Christian" literature and the author, through her character, began preaching morals, etc. and the plot took a tremendously uplifting turn. None of this is necessarily bad, but it was so clearly contrived as to be eye-rollingly annoying. I wished for a more realistic second half, a lot less preaching (which I don't think any teen would stand for), and a lot less overtly Christian. ( )