This summer, Mom has gotten a temporary position teaching at a college in Atlanta, where their family's best friends moved last year. It's perfect because Cat and Chicken can stay with the friends all day while Mom works. Except that while they're on their flights from San Francisco, Mom gets a phone call. The Atlanta friends have to fly to India because their grandmother has had a stroke. And no, they're not coming back soon as India is so far away and they have so many family members there they haven't seen in years. So Mom has to come up with a Plan B for Cat and Chicken right away.
She rents a car. And they drive to the Outer Banks of North Carolina where their mom grew up. Cat and Chicken are going to stay with their grandparents, who they've never met. They disapproved when their daughter got married (you wonder for a moment if it's because her husband was black but no, it's because they were too young, they wanted to be artists and to move to San Francisco.) And there's been a rift ever since. Obviously, everyone is nervous going into this situation.

out! Both Cat and Chicken grow a lot emotionally over the summer, they learn a lot about what it means to be a family and to be a friend and to be part of a community. They learn a lot about their mother that they never knew. And they end up having an unexpectedly great summer, albeit not without its drama.
This review is a part of Kid Konnection, hosted by Booking Mama, a collection of children's book-related posts over the weekend.
This book is published by Bloomsbury, which is distributed by Macmillan, my employer.