Annilee's father is no one's idea of a hero. He's a disabled, church-defying coalminer who no longer gives a damn what the priests, nuns, or neighbors think. Ashamed of not earning his keep at home, he has moved into an abandoned shack. People urge his wife to put him away. Annilee, seven, loves hanging out in Pop's shack and relishes his talk of a friendly God who loves the smell of sweet ferns. She doesn't dare tell him she now takes free lunch at school, where the nuns portray God as a relentless tracker of sins and declare any offence committed by a free-luncher "a double slap in God's face."

 

This story opens during the nationwide "Red Scare" of the 1950s. Annilee secretly befriends a Russian boy hiding with his mother in a boarded-up house down the street. Although they get driven out, Annilee's enduring love for him leads her to Russia years later, where she learns the terrible tale of why his mother got him out of their homeland. Annilee has had to grow up without Pop, who died when she was eight, but when she comes face to face with what terrified her most as a child, she may find that Pop's legacy—the delight they shared on their unusual pathway, his utter scorn for hurtful conventions—becomes her greatest source of strength.

 

BookLife/Publishers Weekly review:

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Pop teaches his daughter about kindness, resilience, and living life to the fullest. But when Pop dies, Annilee is left to sort the dissonance between her Catholic school's teachings and her father's more benevolent creed, all while coping with her intense grief from his death. Glodek's compelling narrative explores the bond between parent and child…and later, her relationship with Pasha shows her the power of deep, abiding love…to heal the hurts of the past. Touching historical fiction about family, grief, and legacy.