âA writer to be reckoned with.â âKathleen Glasgow, author of Girl in Pieces and Youâd Be Home Now
A heartbreaking, hopeful, and timely novel about facing family secrets, healing from trauma, and falling in love, from the award-winning author of How It Feels to Float
Georgeâs life is loud. On the water, though, with everything hushed above and below, she is steady, silent. Then her estranged dad says he needs to talk, and Georgeâs past begins to wake up, looping around her ankles, trying to drag her under.
But thereâs no time to sink. Georgeâs best friend, Tess, is about to become, officially, a teen mom, her friend Laz is in despair about the climate crisis, her gramps would literally misplace his teeth if not for her, and her moms fill the house with fuss and chatter. Before long, heat and smoke join the noise as disÂtant wildfires begin to burn.
George tries to stay steady. When her father tells her his news and the painful memoÂries roar back to life, George turns to Calliope, the girl who has just cartwheeled into her world and shot it through with colors. And itâs here George would stayâquiet and safeâif she could. But then Tess has her baby, and the earth burns hotter, and the past just will not stay put.
A novel about the contours of friendship, family, forgiveness, trauma, and love, and about our hopeless, hopeful world, Helena Foxâs gorgeous follow-up to How It Feels to Float explores the stories we suppress and the stories we speakâand the healing that comes when we voice the things weâve kept quiet for so long.
"Compelling and arresting" âShelf Awareness (starred review)
"Powerful, heart-tugging" âBooks+Publishing
"As deeply enjoyable as it is reflective . . . sweet and yet emotionally mature" âBCCB
"Brilliant" âUtopia State of Mind
"A sensitive portrayal of complex PTSD" âBooklist
"Lyrical and evocative . . . Vivid" âKirkus
"Heartbreaking yet uplifting and hopeful . . . Highly recommend[ed] âEveryQueer.com