Eighteen-year-old Holiday needs to sort her life out. She's still shaken from her brother's recent suicide attempt; still pining over her ex, Maya; and still...

Eighteen-year-old Holiday needs to sort her life out.

She's still shaken from her brother's recent suicide attempt; still pining over her ex, Maya; and still struggling to write again after a long dry spell. To earn enough money for a rebalancing trip with Maya, Holi gets a short-term job: organizing the attic of acclaimed author Elsie McAllister. It's an unglamorous gig with a difficult boss. Elsie--whose fame rests on a single novel published decades ago--is in her nineties, in failing health, and fiercely protective of her privacy. But as Holi sorts through the attic's surprising contents, she realizes there's much more to Elsie than the novel that made her a legend.

Unearthing Elsie's secrets will change how Holi sees art, life, and the way they intertwine, as she grapples with choices that will redefine her own path.

Author: Jennifer Mason-Black
Publisher: Carolrhoda Lab (R)
Published: 05/06/2025
Pages: 304
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 0.90lbs
Size: 8.35h x 5.75w x 1.18d
ISBN: 9781728493299
Audience: Young Adult


Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 03/01/2025
Booklist 04/01/2025 pg. 109
Foreword 04/21/2025

About the Author
Mason-Black, Jennifer: - Jennifer Mason-Black is the author of Devil and the Bluebird (Abrams 2016), which received starred reviews from Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, and Shelf Awareness, and was included in the Locus Recommended Reading List 2016. Her short fiction has appeared in Strange Horizons, Fireside Fiction, Daily Science Fiction, and The Sun, among others. She is a member of SFWA and the Author's Guild, and lives deep in the woods of Massachusetts.