Set in the 1970s, the story concerns a girl and boy whose paths cross as they embark into adolescence. Two things stood out for me about this book. 1. The language is spare and perfect, and the voice perfectly captures the mind of a twelve-year old, trying to grasp the big picture from the handful of clues their brief life has presented them, so far. 2. For once, a story about tweens or teens in which none of the adults are behaving badly. No addictions, alcoholism, abuse, neglect, intrusion, etc etc. The parents are somewhat peripheral to the kids' lives, as is appropriate for their age, but they know they are there for them. There is an overall sense that life is confusing and plain weird sometimes, but in the end, things work out. Kids may be put off at first by the introspective mode of the storytelling and the somewhat slow pace (and alternation between narrators), but soon they will find themselves drawn into this world. Some readers (adult and kid) have complained initially that "nothing happens," but by the end you realize that a lot has happened. This is a wonderful book that will stay with any reader for a long time.