Thirteen Stones — Nancy Warren

When Graham Michelsen pulled up stakes that spring and moved his wife Emily and daughter Lois to a brand-new model satellite community called Centrewood, he believed that its unique town plan based on his ideal form, the Circle, would ensure a life of security and stability. But having barely settled in, he is hit by a barrage of events which clash and collide, stark reality takes on an overlay of farce at times, and he struggles to manage his own equilibrium when everything seems to be going on tilt. Even his own daughter betrays him. Centrewood's concentric circles are failing to protect him and have begun spinning out of control. Partway through the two months of September and October, 1957 that span this story, Lois is not mature enough to understand what is happening to her father Graham. She is not yet fourteen years old. She doesn't know that as Chief Aeronautical Engineer for the Avro Arrow, he had worked so hard leading up to the October 4 Rollout that he was already suffering from burnout. On that very day, he was beset by three major setbacks, after which even more hit him broadside. Lois finds herself adding to his aggravation by suddenly flexing her wings, asserting her right to speak out and stand her ground. She also has her own challenges. She is absorbed by practicing flute with her new friend Becky, preparing to play the Doppler Flute Duet at the Fall recital. The other schoolmate, Mitsy, the thorn in Lois's side from Day One, continues to disrupt Lois with her crazy antics, which ultimately lead to disaster. By the time Lois reaches her fourteenth birthday on November 1, everything has fallen apart....