Lyon, George Ella. Sonny's house of spies

Lyon, George Ella. Sonny's house of spies. Atheneum, 2004 [0-689-85168-5]
It is 1947 and just before his father leaves for good, he hears him say "A man can't live in a house of spies!" His father is gone and Sonny doesn't know why. His mom starts going to a conservative Christian Church and one of the men members starts comes coming over to the house frequently. Sonny ends up working in this man's donut shop and eventually finds out that this man is contact with his dad. While trying take care of his younger brother, Sonny becomes friends with a new neighbor girl. One day Sonny hears that his father has gone off with the "queers" (the word used in the book.) There is a cute page where Sonny tries to explain sex to his younger brother. Sonny finds a letter and confronts the donut guy who admits that he was "allergic to girls" and loved his father very much. That night the donut shop burns down and the man dies. After a while Sonny's dad starts talking to his mom again and eventually talking to Sonny on the phone. This 298 page is a touching story of a boy trying to deal with a father who has left the family for a reason that he can't understand. There is of course the homosexual theme in the book, but nothing is descriptive at all... just that the father is "queer."