"Sometimes it takes a child" to guide a family through the crisis of losing a parent. Stella is a charming, witty, insightful, articulate youngster who has an uncanny way of describing the dynamics of her family.

"From ages eight through twenty-one," Stella shares her most private thoughts, emotions, and struggles, allowing us an intimate look into the developmental challenges of growing up following the death of a parent.

"Through a series of interviews," which Stella conducts with her four older siblings, the family learns to deal with their mother's illness and death from cancer....