Jeremy's whole life changed the day his mother left.

When his mother leaves with the father of his worst enemy at school, nine-year-old Jeremy seeks to make sense of her abandonment. He throws himself into recreating the Book of Birds, a collection of drawings that his mother took with her on the day she left. While his father fights his own depression and his sister distances herself from their lives, Jeremy turns wholeheartedly to nature, and finds solace in the quiet comfort of drawing.

In this novel, James Prosek tells Jeremy's story without blame, without self-pity, and without excuses. The Day My Mother Left should be read by anyone who has gone through the pain of losing a parent, and by anyone who wants to meet Jeremy, a boy who can see inside himself the person he wants to become.

A remarkable literary debut from bestselling nonfiction writer Prosek, this fictionalized memoir tells the story of a young boy who suffers the most harrowing experience a child can face: the loss of a parent who makes the choice to walk out on her child. Illustrations. "Prosek movingly chronicles young Jeremy's emotional upheaval after his mother abandons his family, in this sophisticated novel." -- Publishers Weekly