Description
In the devastating but uplifting tradition of Adam Silvera and Nova Ren Suma comes a queer supernatural coming-of-age story from acclaimed author Maria Ingrande Mora.
How do you face your fears when everything is terrifying?
Fifteen-year-old Brynn can’t stop thinking about death. Her intrusive thoughts and severe anxiety leave her feeling helpless—and hopeless. So after her mom interprets one of Brynn’s blog posts as a suicide note, she takes extreme measures, confiscating Brynn’s phone, blocking her Internet access, and banishing her to stay with her father who lives “off the grid” on a houseboat in the Florida mangroves. Isolated from her online friends—her only friends—Brynn resigns herself to a summer of mind-numbing boredom and loneliness… until Skylar appears.
Skylar is everything Brynn isn’t—sultry, athletic, and confident. Yet Brynn feels at home around this fearless girl who pushes her to try new things and makes her belly flutter with nerves that have nothing to do with anxiety. When Brynn discovers that Skylar is trapped in the bayou and can’t tell her why, she resolves to free her new crush from the dark waters, even if it means confronting all of her worst fears.
Reviews
★ “Without shying away from the ways mental illness can impact a life, Brynn’s story blooms with hope and fierce love, and every step feels earned.”—Booklist, Starred Review
★“This haunting, heartbreaking, and healing coming-of-age story explores disability and mental illness. . . . Mora represents truthful, thorny complexity in Brynn’s relationships. . . . Themes of connection and community equally affirm the value of in-person and online relationships. . . . Raw and compassionate.”—Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review
★“A compelling story highlighting the raw reality of living with a mental illness.”—School Library Journal, Starred Review
“Mora (Fragile Remedy) renders Brynn, Skylar, and their respective parents’ emotions with the grace and sympathy necessary for the heavy topics addressed. Intense emotional situations and the lightly supernatural premise, coupled with Brynn’s growing self-compassion regarding her own mental health, make for a simultaneously devastating and uplifting telling.”—Publishers Weekly
“An emotionally rich, thoughtful, and deeply meaningful novel.”—The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
“An arresting, profoundly generous exploration into the power of self-compassion and unconditional love in the face of all-consuming fear. I couldn’t put it down.” —Shannon Watters, co-creator of the award-winning bestselling comic book series Lumberjanes
More Details
BISAC 1: YAF058140 Young Adult Fiction – Social Themes – Mental Illness
BISAC 2: YAF031000 Young Adult Fiction – LGBTQ+
BISAC 3: YAF021000 Young Adult Fiction – Ghost Stories
