Roger Rosenblatt and his wife Ginny have led a lovely life. They've raised three successful, happy children and now get to luxuriate in the love of their grandchildren from their home in Quogue, New York. They're converting their garage into a playhouse for the children on their summer visits to see Boppo and Mimi. Their daughter Amy pulled them together when she was pregnant and let them choose what they would be known as for the grandkids. Everyone else chose something reasonable, but Roger chose El Guapo. Granddaughter Jessie put a stop to that with her inability to say it, and so he is now Boppo the Great.

On December 8, 2007, Amy died while working out on the treadmill with her two older children by her side. Jessie ran up to get their dad while Sammy stayed with his mom, trying to get her to breathe. She didn't. She had a rare undetected heart condition that caused her death. Her husband, both stoic and heartbroken, asks Mimi and Boppo to move in and help with the children, and so they do. Making Toast is the story of their first years re-parenting, grieving their beautiful daughter, loved by all who knew her.

The words are simple, the stories are plainly told. And they pack so much more meaning and heartbreak behind them for it. When Sammy acts out the position his mom was in as he tried to wake her up, the tears were flowing. When Bubbies, 1 year old James, cried for his mom and asked when she was coming home, the tears were flowing. But more than the sorrow in the book, is the overwhelming love conveyed throughout. They celebrate Amy's life while mourning her loss. While nothing can ease the loss of a loving mother, the children are in good company growing up with the parents who raised such a wonderful person before them.