The Undertaking of Tess — Lesley Kagen

During the summer of 1959, ten-year-old Theresa "Tessie" Finley has her work cut out for her. Not only is she attempting to come to grips with the devastating loss and guilt she feels after witnessing her father's death, but her kid sister, Birdie, refuses to believe that their beloved daddy is really gone. Tessie needs to make sure that she does before their mom gets wind of how much "weirder" her sister s getting. Stronger and more down to earth than ethereal Birdie, Tess has always watched over her sister, so it's only natural for her to come up with a plan that she jots down on one of her never-ending to-do lists. If she can't achieve her goals, she's desperately worried that her beautiful, but self-centered mother, Louise, might send emotionally fragile Birdie to the county insane asylum. Her daddy always told her, "A Finley never throws in the towel," so more than anything Tess wants to make him proud. But despite her resourcefulness and grit, she's smart enough to know that the odds are stacked against her and her time is running out. Heartbreaking, funny, nostalgic, and spiritually uplifting, you ll cheer the Finley sisters on from the first page to the last of this charming novella that sets the stage for the accompanying novel, "The Resurrection of Tess Blessing.""