After Nancy Horvath and her eleven-year-old son, Danny, move into their dream house, Danny becomes fast friends with ten-year-old Eddie Nova, the boy next door. Eddie is a hyperactive, difficult child, both boon companion and bane of Danny's existence. Meanwhile, Nancy's helpful, neighborly relationship with Eddie's father, Frank, becomes a passionate affair. Frank is the partner Nancy wishes she had, and the father Danny has always longed for. Then one day, Eddie brings over a hunting bow and playfully aims it at Danny and his dog. In a tragic mishap, Danny accidentally shoots and kills his friend.The novel traces the repercussions of that accident - in Nancy's voice, in Danny's voice, and from Frank's point of view.Maxine Chernoff balances the radical shock of tragedy with the hard-won optimism of survival. She enacts how a child stunned by grief and the adults who love him reclaim their trust in the future. Read Less