"I was born into a mentally ill family. My sister was the officially crazy one, but really we were all nuts." So begins MY SISTER FROM THE BLACK LAGOON, Laurie Fox's incandescent novel of growing up in a strange, unfathomable world. Lorna Persons is the youngest of two daughters born in the 1950s to a South California family. She lives in the shadow cast by her sister, whose rages command the full attention of a her parents. Their household is off-key and out of kilter, a place where Lorna's sister Lonnie sees evil in the morning toast and runs into the hills to join the animals that seem more like her kin. Lorna's severe longing for normality, combined with a sensitive nature and teenage-angst, lead her down a bittersweet path from anger and guilt to acceptance. MY SISTER FROM THE BLACK LAGOON is a wisecracked bell jar, a heartbreaking study of sane and crazy. Laurie Fox's delightful voice is knowing yet wide-eyed, lyrical and witty.