Hold Fast by Blue Balliet

    "Gone. Four miserable letters. What does the word mean? Does 4:44, a measurement made of fours but shown by three, mean a family of four is still four, even when one is gone? Can a soul hide in a three that belongs to four?"

   In one of her newer novels, Blue Balliet weaves the story of Early, an 11 year old girl living in the Woodlawn area of Chicago. Early lives with her parents and brother Jubie in a one-room apartment with dreams of having a "real" home someday. The family unit is tight and they refer to themselves as DashSumEarlyJubie. Early's world is rocked when her father, Dash, mysteriously disappears and the family is embroiled in a mystery that violently leaves them homeless and new members of the shelter system.
     Early becomes the head of the family that was four, now three, and takes the lead to help find out what happened to her father. While Sum struggles with the complications of their new situation and life without Dash, Early, along with help from the writings of author Langston Hughes, discovers clues to determine if her father is still alive.
     Blue Balliet, in her incomparable way, weaves an intelligent mystery that takes a look at the lives of the homeless and the reality of life in the shelter system. This book leaves the reader wanting to learn more about this close-knit family and their predicament as each chapter unfolds.