I read The Year of Cecily while I was on vacation in Hawaii and it was the perfect beach read. Cecily and Jeffrey were great characters, although I confess to occasionally wanting to shake their respective mothers. However, I learned that type of mom behavior is a cultural phenomenon and the love for their kids shined through even if Jeffrey and Cecily often didn't see it until later. Cecily had a great arc and so did Jeffrey, although his was more subtle.