Wait - 3.5 rounded up to 4

[Susan]

I enjoyed this, but I admit it was also lacking a strong plot, which I usually want. Elise and Sophie are the daughters of an undocumented immigrant from Brazil, who has lived on Nantucket for about twenty years, working in the restaurant business. Elise has just finished University in Chapel Hill, where her best friend, Sheba, was a wealthy girl with a summer place on Nantucket. Sophie has just finished high school. When the book opens, their mother has disappeared. The two girls have to take care of themselves over the ensuing summer. As noted, there isn’t a lot of action here. I think I liked the book because I liked Elise. Elise and Sophie are mature beyond their years – responsible and sympathetic characters with an understanding of life that Sheba will probably never achieve. The characterizations are excellent and, in spite of little plot, I kept reading because I wanted to see what happened to the girls.