29 June 2007 IN THE SPACE LEFT BEHIND by Joan Ackermann, HarperTeen/Laura Geringer, ISBN: 978-0-06-072255-5, ISBN: 0-374-30989-2

"Do nothin' 'till you hear from me

Pay no attention to what's said

Why people tear the seam of anyone's dream

Is over my head"

-- Duke Ellington

"The night that Colm Drucker's mother got married for the third time, an old paint-encrusted screw gave way outside the house and snapped in half, letting fly a second-story window box jam-packed with sand and artificial flowers. It was a wonder the screw had lasted as long as it had, for it was the only screw in one of the pair of wrought-iron brackets that had supported the heavy window box for more than a decade, offering faint floral cheer to motorists heading north on Palmer Street.

"Colm discovered the window box, completely intact, the faded flowers sticking up in the same haphazard arrangement they had held through several winters, in the yard the next morning. Unfortunately, although the window box had survived its steep headlong dive, the family dog had not. The weighty box had landed squarely on Chester's head. Chester, part Rottweiler, part spaniel, liked to sleep alongside the cool concrete foundation below the dining room on hot summer nights, and the night of Fiona Drucker's wedding was a scorcher.

"Holding the dish that contained Chester's breakfast, a few bits of kibble mixed in carefully with a third of a can of wet food, Colm stared down at the dog. Nearly fourteen -- a year younger than Colm -- Chester had lost the majority of his teeth and couldn't really chew.

"Now the dog was still, his head buried under the window box. It must have been an instantaneous death; his rounded brown body and comfortably outstretched legs suggested deep sleep.

"Dog dish in hand, Colm looked up at the side of the house and quickly caught a glimpse of the lone remaining bracket protruding beneath his mother's bedroom window. He blinked a few times. "Who would he tell?"

There you have it: a house in Massachusetts; a dead dog; an adolescent boy. Colm, alone at the house, and the dog he's known his whole life, dead as a door nail.

IN THE SPACE LEFT BEHIND is the story of Colm Drucker. His father, an inveterate liar and gambler, disappeared when Colm was a baby after literally gambling away the family's former house.

Colm had understood at an incredibly tender age that he was henceforth the man of the house. He has grown up young and, having learned all manners of construction trades, has lovingly maintained the house which had been built long ago by one of his maternal great-grandfathers and then given to his mother by her Florida-bound parents after Fiona was left homeless with a baby -- Colm -- and Colm's older sister, Cameron.

Colm's exemplary craftsman skills have made him a favorite among the neighbors with whom he comes in contact, especially the octogenarian, Dunkin' Donuts coffee-loving Mr. Hafferty.

Now, in the wake of the wedding, Fiona's departing for a Las Vegas honeymoon (with her fourteen-month-old daughter, Bunny, from her brief second marriage and her new husband/former high school classmate, Don), and the death of Chester; the father he has never known except by (bad) reputation suddenly attempts to make contact with Colm.

" 'Don't hang up.'

"Colm recognized the voice from the call that morning.

" 'Seventy thousand dollars. I want you to have it.' "

When the self-absorbed, honeymooning Fiona contemplates pursuit of a new career as a lounge singer in Vegas, and begins looking with Don at condos for sale, fifteen-year-old Colm becomes determined to somehow purchase the family home from his mother and remain in Massachusetts. As is his style, his determination to keep the house leads to methodically creative and well-thought out plans.

And so it is through this series of events -- beginning with the death of Chester (about which he still hasn't told anyone) -- and despite his initial resistance to the parent he's never known, that Colm finds himself compelled to consider reaching out for the considerable amount of money with which his father is luring him.

IN THE SPACE LEFT BEHIND is written in a style of third person narrative that keeps us guessing at what emotions Colm and the other characters are experiencing. The result is a continually wry understatement of a tale that is, in turn, bizarre, heartbreaking, profound, and fulfilling.

Richie Partington, MLIS

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