Over the Moon

The fulminating impact of one event on a family is explored in this richly nuanced tale. At 16, Mattie has run away with an older man, leaving her younger brother Jay and sister Kate to go on without her. Since their parents were killed in a car accident, the three children have lived in the Berkshire mountains of Massachusetts with their Aunt Georgia; Jay and Kate have adapted to their circumstances as best they could, but Mattie never has, and she departs the first chance she gets. The chasm Mattie leaves behind haunts Kate and Jay in different ways until, having heard almost nothing from her sister for four years, Kate turns 16 herself and sets out to make contact with Mattie. The narration's shifts in time underscore the many contrasts running through the novel: the jealousy vs. longing love of the two sisters, dark moodiness against hope for the future, the emotional difference between voluntary and enforced leave-taking. Guest's first novel was The Handsome Man. (12-up)