Mazzy is on her own. She feeds herself, takes care of herself,
and tries to keep the house clean. She turns away pesky or curious
visitors. Her father is working far away, and her only company is
her neighbors --- her friend Colby, and Norma, the kind-hearted
woman across the street. But instead of living a Pippi
Longstocking-like adventure, Mazzy is in crisis. Her mother is in a
depressed catatonic state in the back bedroom, and Mazzy is having
trouble taking physical and emotional care of her, not to mention
herself.

Ann Dee Ellis's second novel, EVERYTHING IS FINE., finds Mazzy
in a terrible situation: after a heartbreaking tragedy, her mother
totally withdraws emotionally. When her father leaves town to take
a new job, she is left behind to fend for herself. Though her main
concerns are survival and trying to get her mother to wake up,
Mazzy is still a young girl at heart and spends much energy
thinking about Colby, the boy next door, wondering when her breasts
will grow, and also Oprah. The tension between her and Colby grows
as they try to establish what they mean to each other, all the
while dealing with Mazzy's worsening family situation.

While Mazzy wrestles with her mother's illness, her father's
absence, the concern of her neighbors, and the inquiries of a state
social worker, she is also dealing with puberty and the normal
changes, physical and emotional, of girls her age. Ellis never
makes it clear just how old Mazzy is, but it seems she is somewhere
between 10 and 12. In any case, she is far too young to be on her
own caring for her disabled mother.

EVERYTHING IS FINE. is sad and tragic, yet there remain glimmers
of hope in Mazzy's tale. Like her mother, she is an artist and
finds in art and the creative process strength and healing. Ellis's
prose is spare with little dialogue; what we read is mostly Mazzy's
thoughts and reactions to the almost inconceivable circumstances
around her. As the story unfolds, we learn more about the event
that damaged her family and why both she and her mother feel
guilty. This guilt, though destructive, may also be the key to
bringing them together again in health and healing.

The chapters are short, some just a line or two, and the
descriptions are scaled way back. And though the novel packs an
emotional punch and the feelings seem real and believable, the
setup seems less so (for example, given what has happened and the
responses to it, why would Mazzy's father leave town?). There are
some ideas, such as Mazzy's new attraction to art, that are not as
well-developed as they could be.

Still, EVERYTHING IS FINE. is an interesting and
thought-provoking novel, and Mazzy is a sympathetic character whom
readers will surely be cheering for and hoping, as the book ends,
that everything really will be fine --- better than fine --- for
her.

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