In Callan Wink’s novel, August, we follow the title character, August, from ages 12 to 19. His parents divorce. He observes the many ways their union was illogical. He is quiet and unassuming like his father, but he has a natural curiosity and hunger to learn like his mother. He lives with one parent in Michigan and then the other in Montana. Eventually, a dramatic and violent situation makes him strike out on his own where he continues to discover that people in small, quiet spaces live complicated lives. The experiences lead him to conclusions about his own parents and his own future.