I have to warn you that it's got a very uncomfortable-to-me mix of whimsy and seriousness in the first third or maybe even half, but then (from my perspective) picks one tone (seriousness).

It really did leave a big impression on me, though--the landscape of it and the characters.

I've corresponded with the author, though I haven't sent her a letter in ages and should really check to be sure she's still with us. After meeting her,** I read other books by her that I also liked a whole lot. Something she did in all her books, long, long before it was popular, was include neuroatypical characters.

**We met at a memorial for Lloyd Alexander--in fact, we started corresponding because of him. I enthused about her book to him when I met him, and he knew her and told her, and she wrote to me!