Summary

“Cloud Busting” by Tara June Winch starts with May and her brother Billy, who enjoy going cloud busting on the beach. They try to pierce clouds with a rainbow formed by their arms joined. They play on the sandy beach, collect pipis (clams), and dive into the water. Their games are innocent, joyful, and make them feel free. They are not scared of the ocean and its tides but simply go with the flow. When they return home, their mother cooks the clams in a saucepan and begins telling them a story from when she was a child.

The mother was one of eight siblings, but she was the only one eight who was allowed to stay with her mother. One of her brothers was taken by an aunt, and the other children were placed in missions. In 1967 they lived in a small ...