Books like Red Sky at Morning

4**** and a ❤A coming-of-age story set in a small mountain town in New Mexico during WW II. 17-year-old Josh has to become the man of the household when his father goes into the Navy and moves the family from Mobile to New Mexico where they'll be safer. Josh's mom cannot deal with the change in social life and different cultural norms. Josh finds new friends and himself. The first time I heard about this book was when my mother checked it out of the library and I would hear her laughing as she read. I kept asking her about it and she read snippets aloud. I could hardly wait for her to finish so I could read it also. Many years later I checked it out of the library and read it again. For a while it was out of print and unavailable, but I'm happy that it's available again. I have my own copy now. ***UPDATE 25Aug12***Yet another re-read of this favorite. Bradford writes believable teens (and adults), making sense of a world whose rules have changed. I was caught up in the story of Josh and his family, as they tried to make the best of the situation. The setting shields the characters from the war, but war will intrude eventually. In the meantime Josh and his friends maintain some of the innocence of youth, while still stretching the boundaries as they rush head-long towards adulthood.***UPDATE 24May15***A challenge to read "your mother's favorite book" in honor of Mother's Day temporarily threw me for a loop. My mother passed away last year and she'd never shared what was her favorite read. (Actually, she didn't read much in the last two decades of her life.) Then I remembered this little gem of a novel. Oh, how we laughed together reading it! Re-reading it and thinking of my mother was a perfect way to meet this challenge. The hardcover copy I got from the library was the "seventh printing" and had no cover art - just a white background with a red and black title. BUT, it did include several author blurbs -including one from Harper Lee! She writes: Red Sky at Morning is a minor marvel: it is a novel of paradox, of identity, of an overwhelming YES to life that embraces with wonder what we are pleased to call the human condition. In short, a work of art. Well, I sure can't improve on that!