Ten-year-old Sprig wears her heart on her sleeve, so when her father, an engineer and architect, leaves to build schools in Afghanistan, she has trouble making the adjustment. Tears also flow when it comes to the teasing dished out by her older sister, Dakota. In small, but well-defined moments, Sprig deals with the superiority of place granted to an older sibling, squabbles with friends, and faces first love, both for Dakota, and rather surprisingly, for Sprig herself. This short book is best catagorized as a slice of life, brought under the umbrella of Dad's absence. It's the characters, though, who really make everything come together. Mazer hits just the right note with each, from the children to the elderly neighbor Sprig saves when the woman has a stroke. In an astute bit of push-pull, Sprig is called a heroine, even though she knows she could have gotten help sooner. A solid choice for an underserved age group.