Depending on the Morning Sun

Depending on the Morning Sun is a gripping novel-in-stories set during the mid-2010s, where everything is calm before the storm. In the sun-drenched border town of Yuma, Arizona, Carrie and Jon struggle to create stability for their sensitive son Michael, whose autism shapes his world through numbers, patterns, and acute fear of the dark. At the same time, their daughter Emma tries to find a way to protect herself from bullies in school as well as protecting her little brother. When Carrie's controversial stepfather Marcus Chen extends a financial lifeline with troubling strings attached, the family's delicate balance is threatened, drawing in Carrie's well-meaning but overbearing mother Deborah. Marcus Chen's initiative leaves the age-old question wide open: Is it possible to escape your fate in life if you have enough money-and if so, can the price be too high? Through playground confrontations, late-night meltdowns, unexpected breakthroughs with a Horned Lark, and a dramatic highway encounter that forces long-buried conflicts to the surface, these interconnected stories capture a family's determination to find meaningful connection against formidable odds. This collection offers an intimate, unflinching portrait of parental love, sibling bonds, and the unexpected moments of grace that sustain us. A resonant read for anyone who has ever had to deal with the gap between expectation and reality in family life.