Belly Buttons: Lifelines from My Brother (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9798887471341)

Patty has spent much of her childhood seeing to her older brother Tommy, a hemophiliac who's often confined to bed. When Patty is eleven and Tommy nineteen, he asks her to make a secret pact with him, one that will strike a blow against his debilitating disease. If she says yes, he'll share the magic inside a small orange box containing folded pieces of paper he calls "belly buttons." He promises that these little packets hold enough substance to carry her through the darkest of future days. Explaining that by choosing carefully using the clue atop each one and performing the ritual printed inside the lid, the words written within will act as a guide toward her future path.

As the decades pass and Patty struggles to both keep her end of the pact and selfishly hold onto a love letter meant for someone else, she opens six of the seven belly buttons and is always astounded at her brothers' foresight in creating them. With only one belly button left in the little orange box to last her the rest of her days, she must ask herself if she believes enough in its magic to offer it to her brother in his time of need. If so, can she also find a way to unburden herself of the yet-to-be-delivered letter?