Mattie Ryder is marvelously neurotic, well-intentioned, funny, religious, sarcastic, tender, angry, and broke. When she finds a tiny rubber blue shoe--a gumball trinket--it becomes a talisman for her--a chance to recognize the past for what it is and the future as she always hoped it could be. She wants to understand her family and herself, and the ever-unfolding mystery of her sweet, sad--and sometimes surprising life. 2002