The Year of my Miraculous Reappearance was published in hardcover in Spring of 2007 and in paperback in Fall of 2009, both by Knopf. It’s young adult. More cleanly so than, say, Becoming Chloe. Which is not to say adults won’t do fine with it. In fact, the Philadelphia Inquirer said, “I can’t imagine anyone feeling too grown up for this story.”

In my own words: 

Cynnie’s mom has a problem with drinking. In fact, she’s a drunk. A fall down, pass out alcoholic. There are many problems involved in living with a practicing alcoholic. Not the least of which, for Cynnie: it makes it harder to recognize her own alcohol problem. I mean, standing next to her mom, she looks pretty good. Who wouldn’t?

Cynnie really only has one true love in the world, her little three-year-old Down’s Syndrome brother, Bill. But then their grandparents swoop in and take Bill away. On the one hand, it’s a reasonable move. After all, their mom doesn’t take care of him. Cynnie does. On the other hand, if things are that bad at home—and they are—why don’t they take Cynnie, too?

She takes matters into her own hands. Very badly. She runs away with a boy, kidnaps Bill. Crashes a car. And ends up in court-ordered AA meetings.

And that’s where she begins to learn. With the help of her AA sponsor, Pat, she sees that you can save yourself but you can’t save anybody else. She gets it that she’s going to have to recover. Even if her mother never does.

What the Reviewers had to say:

The Philadelphia Inquirer said, "This book is very close to perfect. It's hard for me to imagine anyone feeling too grown up for this story."

Kirkus call it "heartfelt" and "suspenseful."

And Booklist called it "engaging" and "hopeful."