In this touching, humourous sequel to Love-Lies-Bleeding, Roberta “Bobby” Harrison is happy now that Germany has surrendered. Her brother Alex, is back from overseas, Rick Anderson wants to kiss her, and life should be wonderful for Bobby, but everything is changing and life has become very confusing.

Excerpt

Friday, June 15, 1945
It’s hot, hot, hot today. I thought I was going to melt on my way to school. We had a cold picnic supper out in the backyard with fresh lettuce from my garden….
            Dad said it was so hot out you could fry an egg on the sidewalk. Grandma said why on earth would anyone want to fray an egg on a sidewalk? Dad said of course no one would, but if they wanted to, they could. Just when I thought the conversation couldn’t get any more boring, Dad and Aunt Lily and Alex talked about gaskets and screws and nuts and other dull factory stuff. I thought I’d die of ennui (a new word I discovered.)
…
            Grandma was complaining at supper that her foot hurt. I told her perhaps she had gonorrhea. Dad spluttered his potato salad all over the table and Brian fell onto the grass he laughed so hard. Mother said, “I’m going to take that medical book away from you, Bobby!” I have no idea what is the matter with them.

Late night
I looked in my medical book and I see what the problem is now! I meant Grandma had gout! 

Tuesday, August 7, 1945
The Americans dropped anew, huge bomb on the city of Hiroshima in Japan yesterday. It’s called an Atom bomb. The newspaper said it caused a great deal of devastation.

Friday, August 10, 1945
The newspaper today said that sixty thousand people were killed in Hiroshima. I’ve felt sick all day. I wanted to talk to Mother, but she’s busy with Caroline, so finally I spoke to Alex after supper. I told him I can’t begin to imagine that many people dying at one time and he said he couldn’t either. Then I told him that when I was little, Grandma Harrison once told me that when someone dies, God hears that person’s cry. I asked him what he thinks happens when sixty thousand people die at once. He said he didn’t know, that there were too many things he didn’t know about war. I told him I thought it must sound like a huge scream to God’s ears…