Porch Lights

August 27, 2012
After the death of her firefighter husband, shattered widow Jackie and her 10-year-old son, Charlie, head to South Carolina to visit her mother, Annie. Although Jackie and her mother have had a tumultuous relationship, the visit is a healing one, and the soothing smalltown environment and love of his family help Charlie recover from the loss of his father. In fact, Charlie is so happy in South Carolina that he doesn't want to return home to Brooklyn, leaving Jackie with a tough choiceâone that becomes even more difficult when a handsome young neighbor forms a friendship with Jackie and Charlie. Narrator Robin Miles creates pitch-perfect voices for every character: Annie features quavering elderly tones and a strong Southern accent; Jackie sounds middle-aged and speaks with just a hint of Southern accent; the book's male characters are given suitably masculine voices; and Charlie brims with childish enthusiasm. Miles's reading is well paced, the story flowing along in an engagingâand upliftingâmanner. A William Morrow hardcover.

July 1, 2012
Frank's latest is her usual warmhearted look at grief, healing and South Carolina coastal life. Jackie McMullen, an Army nurse, is relieved from her deployment in Afghanistan when she becomes the sole support of her 10-year-old son, Charlie. Her husband, Jimmy, a New York City firefighter, was killed in the line of duty. Her mother, Annie Britt, insists Jackie bring Charlie, who is deeply depressed after the loss of his father, to summer at the "Salty Dog," the Britts' Sullivan's Island home. Although Charlie takes immediately to Lowcountry beachcombing, Jackie is unsettled by her mother's obvious crush on Steve, the widowed dermatologist next door, who, Jackie notes ruefully, would rather flirt with daughter than mother. Annie is still married to Jackie's father, Buster, although they have lived apart for 11 years (ever since Buster embarked on an extended fishing trip). But the presence of his only grandson lures Buster back to the Salty Dog, as does, although he won't admit it, rekindled passion for Annie since her recent overhaul by a Charleston makeover maven. When Charlie himself (channeling Annie's fondest wish) starts angling to stay on Sullivan's Island instead of returning to Brooklyn, Jackie is torn. Jimmy's grave is in New York, and her mother can still push every one of her buttons, for example when she insists on telling Charlie morbid Edgar Allen Poe tales right before bedtime. The sudden death of a neighbor, the husband of Annie's best friend Deb, triggers a vicarious crisis that soon has the Britt family rethinking its priorities. Jackie and Doctor Steve, of course, both glimpse the possibility of moving on from loss together. Although leavened with wry humor, particularly in the sections narrated by Annie, the story stumbles under the weight of too many cliches. Moreover, Frank's target demographic may be put off by the portrayal of Annie and other aging Boomers as positively geriatric. Happy families are all alike, which is why, even on the beach, they can be a bore.

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June 1, 2012
The prolific Frank provides another sweet summer read set in her beloved South Carolina Low Country. When Jackie McMullen, a grieving young widow, flees a New York too full of memories of her late husband and heads back south with her equally bereft son, she's definitely not looking for lovethough the attractive widower next door appears to have other plans. On the other hand, her feisty middle-aged mother, Annie Britt, seems ready to welcome a little male affectionand perhaps her estranged husbandback into her life. As the two women attempt to navigate the twisted course of their often rocky relationship, romance and redemption just may be lurking on the exquisitely balmy shores of Sullivan's Island. Head to the beach, apply sunblock, read, and enjoy!(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)