Who Knew? Ida B. did, that's who!

I  must be getting more critical in my old age because for the first six or seven chapters of this book, I was ready to toss it.  The story was all over the place and hard to follow, and more than that, was not too interesting to follow.  But then the story changed, and I changed my mind.  A book about a young vibrant, nature-loving girl who grows up on an apple orchard in Wisconsin with a loving mother and stable father, suddenly has her world shaken to the core.  Her mother is diagnosed with breast cancer and soon she must leave her happy homeschooled life and return to school (a place she despises and is convinced sucks the life out of her).  It's about this part in the book where I am at.  And now, I have my daughters listening to the book as well.  They, after all can related to such a story.  Last year my husband was diagnosed with bone marrow cancer, and although he has dealt with it as well as he can, after listening to this book, I am convinced that it has affected my children more than I had maybe realized.  Like the father in this story, I too, have become very concerned with the health of my husband and all the details that such a serious disease entails:  finances, finding others to help, changing things at home, etc.  At times I'm sure, like the father, I haven't paid as much attention to the feelings and thoughts of my own children.  So, for that, I am grateful for plucking this book from the shelves of the library and waiting out the first few chapters.  I am only half way done and am anxious to see just how the story turns out for Ida B. and the whole family, as I am still waiting to see how my own family's story turns out.