Any book that wrecks me like this is an automatic 5 stars. The setup and payoff is profound, beautiful, moving, and emotional in ways I didn't see coming. I may or may not have burst into tears and yelled at the narrator. (I read this on audio.)

Grams and Gramps are fantastic, as is the main character, Sal. It's a few good stories, all braided together and tied up neatly at the end. It's a bittersweet and believable ending, which I appreciate.

This book is paced like the slow spot in a river, with little eddies along the bank in places where there are a few stones or a log. There's lots of shade to rest in, but when you get out into the deep part, it's cool, and the current is stronger than it looks. It's quiet, except for the whispers of trees and birdsong. It's like a good swimming hole.

Read it.