"I am truly going to leave home," Emmy Moser has decided.

Marilyn, Emmy's mother, is livid. "You will not leave. Do you hear me? You will not go away for the summer, you ungrateful girl How dare you conspire with your father against me? It is time for you to get serious about finding a husband."

Emmy backs away from her mother. Her heart is pounding, and her legs shake. Her throat is so dry it closes up. She is afraid to speak. "I must overcome I must conquer my fear of conflict," she tells herself. She is sure her voice will fail her.

"Mother," she begins, pleased with her...