Asta in the Wings

Book excerpt: A poignant and often darkly funny story narrated by seven-year-old Asta Hewitt. In their isolated house in rural Maine, Asta, her bookish older brother, and their delusional mother construct fanciful, theatrical worlds of their own. Asta in the Wings is a poignant and often darkly funny story narrated by Asta Hewitt, a resourceful seven-year-old growing up in an isolated house in Bond Brook, Maine. Shut off from the outside world and restricted to the company of a delusional mother and a bookish older brother, Asta is content to be part of a "society of three," constructing fanciful, theatrical worlds of their own. When circumstances push her into a strange outside world—with all of its discontents—Asta must find a way to assimilate while remaining true to herself and her fractured family.