Sweeping Up The Heart, by Kevin Henkes. Greenwillow, Harper. 2019. $2100. ages 10 and up

"After lunch Amelia rushed off to the studio because she needed to get her hands back into some clay. She thought if she stayed home waiting for Epiphany any longer, she might explode. She also felt badly about the way she'd treated Casey. Without explaining anything, she wanted him to know that everything between them was fine. "Are you mad at me!" asked Casey the second he saw her. He was sitting in his usual place."

Amelia is not surprised when her father decides that they will not go to Florida for spring break. It is not the first time that he has decided to stay home, rather than be social. He has been reclusive since the death of his wife ten years ago. Amelia's best friend is in France, and Amelia has no idea how she will fill the days now that she has to spend them at home in Madison.

Her friend and neighbor Mrs. O'Brien, who has cared for Amelia since she was little, continues to love and support her, and ply her with delicious food. She also encourages Amelia's  visits to Louise's clay studio where Amelia makes the tiny clay animals that decorate their house. This week is different; Louise's nephew Casey is staying with her while his parents are at a retreat in hopes of preventing a divorce. At first, Amelia is concerned at having someone new in the studio. The two find they have some things in common, and they begin to spend time together.

Casey teaches Amelia a game he plays where he gives people he sees an imagined existence. When they see a woman who resembles Amelia's mother, the two use that game to imagine that perhaps she is trying to send Amelia a message, or that she is a ghost watching over her. Both are enveloped in their own grief, and wanting their lives to be different than they are. Parents can be so frustrating for the adolescent. It is tough not being a child, and not yet anywhere close to being an adult while facing such obstacles to real happiness. 

Mr. Henkes gives us wonderful characters, whose lives converge in the best of ways. He writes their story with elegance and wonder. The solution to the mystery of the woman both notice so often is resolved in a refreshing and hopeful way. Written with grace and a clear understanding of the adolescent mind, this book is filled with love and the courage both need, and blessed with new friendships that make all the difference.