Ellen is excited. She's just won a provincial public speaking contest, and her new friends Dimsie and Catriona have invited her to visit them in Toronto for a month. She can't wait to sample all the fun of the big city, but she vows to write her mother, now bed-bound with MS, every day. Then, while she's away, the unthinkable happens: her mom dies. As a traumatized Ellen shuts out her best friend, Jenny, her father, brothers, and grandmother all try to cope with their grief and loss — sometimes in infuriating ways. Then she finds a letter her mother has left her, which piques her natural curiosity and sets her on a new mission. Ellen knew that she was adopted, but now she's received the tools she needs to find her birth mother. And she does, though the results are surprising. In Ellen's Book of Life, Joan Givner creates a moving and optimistic story about tolerance, compassion, and the power of family ties. And, as always, Ellen's cheeky twin brothers lighten the mood whenever discussions at the family dining table start getting a little too serious.