Think you know who your family is? Marty Winslow, married mother of three, once was sure of that answer. Then her middle daughter, Ginger, starts getting sick and eventually gets diagnosed with, and dies from Niemann-Pick. One of the things that Marty and her soon-to-be-ex husband fight over, among others, is whose “fault” Ginger’s illness was. “No sick kids in MY family” he says, as their marriage is falling apart.


Thirteen-year-old Andie also thinks, sad as it is, that she knows who her family is. She was the only child of two teachers, until three years ago when they perished in a hotel fire on a rare vacation. Andie, emotionally withdrawn and quiet, has since lived with her grandparents. The only catch in that situation is that they live in a “seniors-only” mobile home park, so she isn’t exactly supposed to be there.


Niemann-Pick is a genetically based disease, and in getting DNA testing done to assure herself her other two daughters are safe, Marty realizes the Ginger was not their biological child. Further digging leads to the realization that Ginger and Andie had been switched at birth. When she learns of Andie’s current situation, she petitions the court, and wins custody of Andie away from her grandparents.


Marty’s father, Carl, is cautiously optimistic, her younger daughter Winnie is enthusiastic, and her elder daughter, Deja, hates the idea.


So does Andie. She leaves her grandparents reluctantly, and is planning on simply biding her time until the lawyers her grandparents have engaged can get the decision reversed. From the extremely quiet life at the mobile home park, she is thrust into this wild family and awkward situation. The book’s title comes from the old drive-in movie theater, which Carls owns. Tuesday nights at The Blue Moon are family, and Marty and her daughters help out and run the concession stand.


How everyone figures out the new relationships, while continuing their own struggles with day-to-day existence, makes a good story. Study after study has shown that having a child with a terminal illness often ends marriages, and it is no secret that siblings’ lives are also effected. Neimann-Pick is one of those rare illnesses that you never hear about as it is relatively rare, but is heart-breaking when you learn about it.


There are some religious references in the book, but it is not overwhelming, preachy or distracting, just part of the story. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in human beings, and especially anyone who has had to question their own definition of family. The characters are well-drawn – no one is all good or all bad, and it’s a good read.

Sounds depressing from the title I gave this post, doesn’t it? I expected it to be horribly sad and frankly didn’t really want to read it, but I make myself at least try to read whatever I pull out of a box. I have been through watching elderly loved ones die, as I grew up surrounded by a host of Great Aunts and Great Uncles from all sides of the family. And I have seen Alzheimer’s take someone from us, piece by piece, bit by bit.

But this book was very well done. The author’s father is the one with Alzheimer’s disease, and she does a good job interspersing childhood memories with daily reality as his illness progresses, through his death and the aftermath. She gives us her sister and her mother’s viewpoints as well, as they deal with her great tall father becoming less and less capable and less predictable day by day. The love they share for him clearly sustains all three woman, and even though the book has its sad times, and we witness the frustration and anger both her father and family go through, it never becomes bogged down. Poetry, news articles and even music are included to both help the reader understand, and shift the mood of the piece. What is well done is that different voices are set in different fonts, but it is all subtly done, so your brain picks up – “Ah, childhood memory” without a hammer blow telling you. So kudos to the typesetter and designer as well.

The book is honest, clear, and a decent read, especially if you like memoirs. Don’t let the subject matter keep you away, as it almost did me.