Suddenly, 12-year-old Bethany Cole finds herself in the car with them, frantically driving across several states in the dead of night.

With no explanation, they leave her at a house in Illinois with a woman Dad calls Aunt Myrlie.

Mom and Dad, upset and weeping, drive off into the night, leaving Bethany with a stranger and a hundred unanswered questions.

But around the girls' 13th birthdays, the two families made a road trip in which an accident took the lives of Elizabeth and Myrlie's husband.

Joss and Bethany read a news article about a man named Van Dyne who was imprisoned for stealing money.

Bethany recognizes the name of one of the fictitious employees through whom he supposedly filtered funds as an alias Dad had used.

Van Dyne has long talks with Joss; she says he is such a lonely man, he thought no one but his own clone could ever love him.

[2] Kirkus Reviews wrote "A surprisingly comforting resolution concludes this safe but compelling thriller.

"[3] Publishers Weekly described the novel as "timely" and noted "raises provocative issues about what makes an individual unique, with both compassion and clarity.

"[4] Deborah Stevenson of The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books wrote "readers will empathize with Bethany's determination to discover her family's secrets and to define herself even as they're glad they're not in her position.