Bee's dad is almost always at work, dedicated to a secret project at Microsoft. Bee's mom, the titular Bernadette, might be legitimately crazy--or she might be an artist. Either way, Bernadette needs an escape, especially after she finds out that the internet-based PA she's hired to run her errands and make her phone calls is actually a front for the Russian mob. Bee is left to piece together the story from an envelope of documents: emails, FBI reports, psychologist notes. Bee is willing to go to the end of the earth to find her mom--and not just in the physical sense. 
 I really loved this book: charming and quirky, with coming-of-age insights and some troubled, unlikeable characters. That's not to say there weren't thinks I disliked--at times all the quirk because just a little much; and why is Bee a brilliant 15-year-old but finishing the 8th grade? Why does she sound closer to 10 sometimes? 
 Also: awesome narrator for the audio version.