Lately, life has been tough for fourteen year old Ellen Logan. With her country embroiled in the Second World War, her brothers in the service and her parents busily supporting the war effort, Ellen is forced to shoulder many of the family responsibilities.

Life is even tougher for Stephen Dearborn, a young British pilot in training at the local airfield. Inexperienced and far from home, Stephen's romantic dreams of being a flyer are shattered by the harsh reality of his training.

Even as Ellen and Stephen are forced to grow up before their time, their friendship continues to deepen - and together they discover that sometimes falling apart is only steps away from falling in love.

Published in 2002

AWARDS:

• Winner of the Ontario Library Association's White Pine Award
• Winner of Napra's Nautilius Award for Young Adult Book
• Winner of Hamilton and Region Arts' Council Award for best children's book for 2002
• Short listed for the Manitoba Young Readers' Choice Awards

REVIEWS:

"Chan has drawn upon her own family history - both her father and uncle were in the RAF - to create an engaging and compassionate novel that succinctly explores how war really changes young lives."
Jeffrey Canton - Books in Canada

"Over all, this a wonderful story in which the characters seem real, and readers will laugh and cry along with them."
Paula J. LaRue - School Library Journal

"Stephen and Ellen are both sympathetic characters—she a little plain, Stephen rather stiff and self absorbed, they're neither glamorous nor beautiful. Stephen's frequent letters are vivd and revealing and Chan shows poignantly Ellen's necessary maturation."
Dierdre Baker - The Toronto Star