Dirt Road

Sixteen-year-old Murdo has just lost his mother. He and his father leave their home in rural Scotland and fly to Alabama to stay with an uncle who emigrated years ago and the uncle's American wife.

On the drive from the airport, they stop in a small town. Murdo comes across a family playing zydeco and joins in, and he leaves with two CDs of Southern American songs. Murdo is already a musician, and the music pulls him toward the place.

This is his first visit to the United States, and much of it is strange to him: racial tension, religious fundamentalism, guns, aggressive behavior, the threat of severe weather. Still, his bond with the South deepens through its blues and zydeco.

At the relatives' house, father and son are met with kindness but say little to each other about their grief. Murdo disappears into music, his quiet, protective father into books. The aunt, whom Murdo calls "the very very best," offers most of the comfort he gets.

The narration stays close to Murdo's mind, with its wandering thoughts, digressions and odd jokes. The question that runs through the book is whether his father will break his silence.