Addie's life has recently been turned completely upside-down with the recent divorce of her mother and step-father Dwight. While her two younger sisters are going to be living with him, she and her mom are moving into a trailer purchased by Dwight for them in Schenectady, New York.

Motherhood is not really a driving force for Addie's mom. While she seems to care for all three of her daughters, Mommers seems to focus on what she needs first, which seems to include get-rich-quick schemes and pinning her hopes on the various men that she meets.

Fortunately for Addie, she has an extremely positive outlook on life. She does a wonderful job of taking care of herself as well as helping to cook and keep the trailer neat. She meets a wonderful group of people in her new neighborhood, including the owner of a nearby mini-mart named Shoula with an interesting and touching subplot of her own.

Addie also finds an escape with her musical talent. She is a talented flutist, which started with lessons at her previous school. She is able to continue her training in her new school, though like most things her Mommers intervention leads to more troubles.

Addie gets periodic reprieves when she gets the opportunity to spend weekends with her stepfather, half-sisters, and the new love in his life. While she loves the time with them, it creates the dilemma of seeing what things could be.

The real strength of this book is in the well-drawn characters, who bring about strong images in the readers imagination. Both those who are sweet and nice and those who you want to smack silly (see Mommers) are truly real people. Addie herself is the type of character that makes you want to cheer for her as she confronts each challenge with a strong strength of will. The reader is more than willing to join her as she is just ... well ... waiting for normal.