What a touching book - even when the premise is a 12-year-old girl running away from a homelife gone crazy. Her 13 yo brother Springer has recently died from muscular dystrophy, and the day of funeral, they came home and dad packed up and left. Since that day, Dani has been planning and saving to run away on a trip few 12 yo's would even tackle with their whole family working together - she is going to hike the Appalachian trail, from Georgia to Maine, 2, 167 miles, 6 months of walking. Her parents met their first night on the trail, got married halfway through, and were pregnant by the time they reached the end. Their children are named for the mountains at the beginning and the end of the trail. There is a lot of family history here - perhaps Dani is hoping to reconnect the dots of her life along the trail.
Of course, things don't work out as planned and her mother catches up with her the second night. There is a pull for mom on the trail as well, and she agrees to first a week and then two months of hiking. During this time, mother and daughter, and even father must work together to start pieceing together a new life, a life without Springer, a life with a new step mother and half brother. The hard work and expansive quiet of the trail, help Dani and her mother to work out their ways of dealing with each other, giving each other space or pressing in with hard truths as needed.
This book had much depth and is very well written. The characters are real and earthy. A very enjoyable read considering the heaviness of the subject matter.
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