On My Radar #24

On My Radar is a meme inspired by the Book Smugglers.

In this striking literary debut, Carol Rifka Brunt unfolds a moving story of love, grief, and renewal as two lonely people become the unlikeliest of friends and find that sometimes you don’t know you’ve lost someone until you’ve found them.

1987. There’s only one person who has ever truly understood fourteen-year-old June Elbus, and that’s her uncle, the renowned painter Finn Weiss. Shy at school and distant from her older sister, June can only be herself in Finn’s company; he is her godfather, confidant, and best friend. So when he dies, far too young, of a mysterious illness her mother can barely speak about, June’s world is turned upside down. But Finn’s death brings a surprise acquaintance into June’s life—someone who will help her to heal, and to question what she thinks she knows about Finn, her family, and even her own heart.

At Finn’s funeral, June notices a strange man lingering just beyond the crowd. A few days later, she receives a package in the mail. Inside is a beautiful teapot she recognizes from Finn’s apartment, and a note from Toby, the stranger, asking for an opportunity to meet. As the two begin to spend time together, June realizes she’s not the only one who misses Finn, and if she can bring herself to trust this unexpected friend, he just might be the one she needs the most.

“It still amazes me how little we really knew. . . . Maybe everything that happened to me and my family had nothing at all to do with the slowing. It’s possible, I guess. But I doubt it. I doubt it very much.”

Luminous, haunting, unforgettable, The Age of Miracles is a stunning fiction debut by a superb new writer, a story about coming of age during extraordinary times, about people going on with their lives in an era of profound uncertainty.

On a seemingly ordinary Saturday in a California suburb, 11-year-old Julia and her family awake to discover, along with the rest of the world, that the rotation of the earth has suddenly begun to slow. The days and nights grow longer and longer, gravity is affected, the environment is thrown into disarray. Yet as she struggles to navigate an ever-shifting landscape, Julia is also coping with the normal disasters of everyday life—the fissures in her parents’ marriage, the loss of old friends, the hopeful anguish of first love, the bizarre behavior of her grandfather who, convinced of a government conspiracy, spends his days obsessively cataloging his possessions. As Julia adjusts to the new normal, the slowing inexorably continues.

There’s an island off the coast of Maine that’s not on any modern map. Shrouded in mist and protected by a deadly reef, Trespass Island is home to a community of people who guard the island and its secrets from outsiders. Seventeen-year-old Delia grew up in Kansas, but has come here in search of her family and answers to her questions: Why didn’t her mother ever talk about Trespass Island? Why did she fear the open water? But Delia’s not welcome and soon finds herself enmeshed in a frightening and supernatural world where ancient Greek symbols adorn the buildings and secret ceremonies take place on the beach at night. Sean Gunn, a handsome young lobsterman, befriends Delia and seems willing to risk his life to protect her. But it’s Jax, the coldly elusive young man she meets at the water’s edge, who finally makes Delia understand the real dangers of life on the island. Delia is going to have to fight to survive. Because there are monsters here. And no one ever leaves Trespass alive

An ancient fairy tale, a contemporary heroine – and cracking good read.

One day, without warning, Jasmyn’s husband died of an aneurysm.

Since then, everything has been different.

Wrapped up in her grief, Jasmyn is trapped in a world without colour, without flavour – without Liam. But even through the haze of misery she begins to notice strange events. Even with Liam gone, things are not as they should be, and eventually Jasmyn begins to explore the mysteries that have sprung up after her husband’s death… and follow their trail back into the events of his life.

But the mysteries are deeper than Jasmyn expects, and are leading her in unexpected directions – into fairytales filled with swans, castles and bones; into a tale of a murder committed by a lake and a vicious battle between brothers; into a story of a lost past, and a stolen love. She’s entering a magical story.

Jasmyn’s story.

“It’s not like the movies, where they don’t know they’re dead. They don’t often haunt people or places for revenge, and as far as I know they don’t befriend lonely children. Usually. If you could see them, you might not even know them from some of the living. Empty-eyed and looking around at the world like they can’t believe it’s all still there and going on without them. Or maybe they’re seeing it for the first time. This city is full of ghosts. I can see them all. Lucky me.”

Niki Slobodian was born with a gift. Ever since she was little she could see things that weren’t supposed to be there. Ghosts, spirits, apparitions. That’s how she landed on the Registry. Now she can’t work or she’ll end up the same place as her father. In prison. But with bills piling up, and with Niki’s godmother dying in the hospital, Niki’s becoming desperate.

But when Niki meets Sam, she sees a beacon of hope. Sam gets her off the Registry, something Niki thought was impossible. He also pays her enough money to get out from under her mountain of debt. And all Niki has to do is round up a homicidal Dark that’s escaped from Hell.

With a new partner, Bobby Gage, another Abnormal with a gift for Casting, Niki has to find the Dark and figure out how to get it back to Hell. But there is the small matter of how the Dark got out. And if the Dark was released purposefully, what else is loose in the city?

Scarlett Stirling is hardworking and fiercely ambitious. She loves the blisters and the strict regime of her dance classes at the National Academy of Performing Arts. Her life is measured and balanced. Perfect.

But when Scarlett meets charismatic musician Moss, she enters another world – a world without restrictions – and is swept up in a heady whirlwind of sex, drugs and celebrity. Spread thin between her commitments and her desire to be with Moss, Scarlett pushes herself to the limit, unaware she’s playing a dark
game.

Silhouette is not just another dance book. This gritty young adult novel follows the strong and determined Scarlett as she navigates her way from the safe, structured Academy into the adult world of commercial dance.

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