For twelve-year-old Lucy Crandall, the last week of August is the most perfect time in the world. It's the week she gets to spend with Grams at the lake house, canoeing, baking cookies, and glazing pots in Grams's potting shed. Grams has a way of making Lucy feel centered, like one of the pots on her kick wheel - perfect, steady, and completely at peace. But this summer, Grams doesn't seem to be exactly the person she once was. And as the week turns into a roller coaster of surprises - some good, some awful - Lucy can't help but wonder: Will things ever be centered again?