Title:  Rabbit Cake
Author: Annie Hartnett
Publisher: Tin House Books
Available:  now
Source: library
Rating: 4 stars

Synopsis:

Elvis Babbitt has a head for the facts: she knows science proves yellow is the happiest color, she knows a healthy male giraffe weighs about 3,000 pounds, and she knows that the naked mole rat is the longest living rodent. She knows she should plan to grieve her mother, who has recently drowned while sleepwalking, for exactly eighteen months. But there are things Elvis doesn’t yet know—like how to keep her sister Lizzie from poisoning herself while sleep-eating or why her father has started wearing her mother's silk bathrobe around the house. Elvis investigates the strange circumstances of her mother's death and finds comfort, if not answers, in the people (and animals) of Freedom, Alabama. As hilarious a storyteller as she is heartbreakingly honest, Elvis is a truly original voice in this exploration of grief, family, and the endurance of humor after loss.


Review:
Watching grief through a child's eyes reminds us all that we grieve in our own ways and sometimes everyone may need a little help to get along.  This book had a bit of everything for everyone, from sadness to complete nuttiness to overwhelming breaks from reality.  This book can give and get with the best of them and for a debut author I was extremely impressed!  Can't wait to read more by Ms. Hartnett!  If looking for a contemporary that's not a romance or thriller, but something a tad deeper with some smiles thrown in, pick this up...it won't disappoint.  And that cover....I'm in love!