The Goodbye Quilt/Susan Wiggs/224 pages

Linda Davis has spent her life raising her daughter and preparing her to leave the nest. Now that it's time, she wonders what she will do with her life. This story shows Linda's ambivalence (and eventually Molly's too) about Molly's leaving home to pursue a dream while being so far from her family and friends. Linda creates a patchwork quilt for her daughter, using items from her daughter's childhood, as she and her daughter Molly travel cross-country to deliver Molly to college. She discovers things about her own life as well as Molly's which help her to resolve her situation. Anyone who has sent a child off on their own will be able to identify with the Linda's feelings.