Children are dying in the eerie town of Slater-and Isa's been unknowingly drawing their deaths before they occur.Eighteen-year-old Isadora Chang left home two years ago in the wake of the tragic suicides of close friends Wren and Zach, the only other people of color her age. But the new life she's built comes crashing down when her art school portfolio showcase consists of gruesome sketches rather than pieces on her proposed theme. Although her professor grants her an extension, completing the work necessary to retain her scholarship feels like an insurmountable task, especially after she's persuaded to go home for her abusive father's funeral. Returning to Slater means reuniting with Mason, the only other surviving member of their friend group. It also means hearing the mountains sing to her again. As a bisexual Chinese American girl in a highly Christian quarry town, Isa always felt that staying put would mean death. This fear is heightened when Mason seeks her help: He believes that Wren and Zach were murdered by a mysterious force and that Isa may be the key to solving everything. Told in Isa's resonant first-person voice, this debut transcends the supernatural mystery genre with its emotional depth and engaging setting. As a contemplative alternative to action-focused horror, its striking explorations of grief, shame, love, and queerness will haunt readers with how true they ring.A powerful, introspective gothic tale filled to the brim with horror. (Horror. 14-18)

Gr 9 Up —A funeral—her abusive father's funeral, to be exact—is what brings art student Isadora Chang back to her hometown; all she has to do is stick around long enough to get her share of the inheritance she's owed. But it isn't easy for her: Slater is a dying mining town still under the thumb of the mine's founders, the illustrious Vandersteens, and as the collapse of the mines has choked the life out of the town, so too has it suffocated bisexual Isa. The town's religious undercurrents, her father's adherence to such, and her mother's silence never made her feel as if she belonged. When two of her best friends, track star Zach and Isa's unrequited crush Wren, seemingly took their own lives within weeks of one another, Isa left Slater and her only surviving friend Mason, and never looked back. Then Mason shows up at the service pleading for help—Paige Vandersteen, teen heiress, has gone missing, Mason was the last person who saw her alive, and he's pretty sure that she, Zach, and Wren were all taken by the same supernatural entity. Slater's secret, tragic, violent history comes roiling to the forefront. Lyrical, sorrowful, and oozing with anguish, Lee's debut novel fully embraces the Gothic tradition and fills every page with dread. Sincere characterizations of queer teens forging relationships in the face of sadness and terror buoy the narrative, which is as bleak and desolate as Slater itself. The verbose prose may turn off some readers, but those wading in will be rewarded with a tale of true terror. VERDICT An instant YA horror classic. Highly recommended.—Tyler Hixson

Children are dying in the eerie town of Slater-and Isa's been unknowingly drawing their deaths before they occur.Eighteen-year-old Isadora Chang left home two years ago in the wake of the tragic suicides of close friends Wren and Zach, the only other people of color her age. But the new life she's built comes crashing down when her art school portfolio showcase consists of gruesome sketches rather than pieces on her proposed theme. Although her professor grants her an extension, completing the work necessary to retain her scholarship feels like an insurmountable task, especially after she's persuaded to go home for her abusive father's funeral. Returning to Slater means reuniting with Mason, the only other surviving member of their friend group. It also means hearing the mountains sing to her again. As a bisexual Chinese American girl in a highly Christian quarry town, Isa always felt that staying put would mean death. This fear is heightened when Mason seeks her help: He believes that Wren and Zach were murdered by a mysterious force and that Isa may be the key to solving everything. Told in Isa's resonant first-person voice, this debut transcends the supernatural mystery genre with its emotional depth and engaging setting. As a contemplative alternative to action-focused horror, its striking explorations of grief, shame, love, and queerness will haunt readers with how true they ring.A powerful, introspective gothic tale filled to the brim with horror. (Horror. 14-18)