missing may

No, the title of this post does not refer to the desire for it still to be the beginning of summer.

Instead, Missing May is the title of a moving short novel by young adult writer Cynthia Rylant, which I read on the recommendation of one of my Writing Project students this summer (each year participants in the program turn me on to at least a few books that I end up loving--all of which tend to be books I'd never pick up without their suggestion).

Missing May tells the story of young Summer--perpetually bounced from relative to relative--and her Uncle Ob who are grieving the death of Aunt May, a person responsible for much of what is good in both Summer and Ob. A sad but redemptive story. But two other characters make the book resonate. First, Summer's quirky and good-hearted chum, Cletus, who has a passion for found art. Second, the West Virginia landscape, which becomes a living, breathing person in Rylant's world.