C, My Name Is Cal — Norma Fox Mazer

How is it possible to feel more at home with your friends than with your own family?

Sometimes Calvin Miller really hates that he and his mother, Nina, don't have a home of their own. Instead, they live in Garo's house -- well, more precisely, Alan's house. A pilot who is always away, Alan is also Nina's boss. As his live-in housekeeper, Nina raises Alan's son, Garo, right alongside Cal.
 
Luckily, the boys are good friends despite their differences. Though Cal is better at school, Garo is better with people -- his outgoing personality makes everyone like him. But sometimes Cal thinks even his mother is closer to Garo than she is to her own son. Cal figures he must take after his dad, but how can he be sure when the only contact he's had with his father is in the form of three postcards over a course of nine years? As Cal navigates his teenage years, he may be in store for more changes than he realizes.