Fierce, solitary, brave and clever, Dicey Tillerman is growing up. Having safely brought her brothers and sister two hundred miles to Gram, their grandmother (the story of Homecoming), now she is having to adjust to ordinary life in school and at home. She must deal with grief at the discovery of her mother’s whereabouts and death, endless worrying about her family, burgeoning adolescence, friendships worth fighting for, and her all-encompassing desire to build and sail boats.