From Booklist
The varied plots of Earle's compelling debut carom through its pages like a pinball. Foremost a coming-of-age tale, it is tinged with Earle's philosophical riffs on marriage and divorce, the economics of aging, and the often inscrutable ties between generations. Max, 16 and an only child, is very close to his grandfather; when he dies, Max's world begins to unravel. His parents divorce, and Max is sent to a boarding school. There he meets a cast of characters seemingly bent on forcing him to grow up quickly, including a Bible-quoting young woman who volunteers with Max at a nursing home, the morphine-addicted doctor who runs the home, and a former employee, now a journalist, who is working on an expose of the home's numerous morphine prescriptions and high morbidity rate. Earle deftly utilizes these diverse characters to delve into Max's struggle to find his niche in his suddenly altered world. And as his parents slowly emerge from their self-centered orbs, it seems likely that the resilience of family ties will prevail. Deborah Donovan
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