Absolutely perfect. No one can harness both the magic and ennui of being a teenager like Kelly Link. People will be handing this down to younger siblings for generations.
Susannah and Laura are sisters. They are also band mates. The third member of their band, Daniel is their best friend and next-door neighbor. Oh, and Susannah’s friend-with-benefits. On the night of Daniel’s birthday, at a wild dive bar with a real carousel on stage, something happens: Susannah kisses Laura’s crush. Laura kisses Daniel. Susannah’s best friend Mo gets pulled in to the fracas…and then no one can remember what happens next.
Why can’t they remember? Well, Mo, Laura, and Daniel DIED! Not only do they not know how or why they died, but their families and friends in the living realm just think that they disappeared! Everyone is distraught and confused- and not just in a general teenage way.
Everyone is even MORE distraught and confused when (drum-roll please) Laura, Mo, and Daniel pop back into existence one December night nearly a year from when they initially, well, died. They burst back into the “now” in their high-school music classroom. There’s magic afoot- magic that brought them back, magic that made a a (possibly) plausible reason for their disappearance to friends and family, and something much, much worse on the horizon.
The magic of their return is a beacon of sorts that draws things that are much more powerful to their sleepy seaside town. Strange things are afoot, and they are only getting stranger. Our trio needs to solve the mystery of their death, but first they need to handle sibling rivalry, put in hours at the coffee shop, sort through “will-they-won’t-theys”, and get the band back together. All of these things plus handling an onslaught of ancient power, imaginary friends becoming real, accidental animorphing, and even more peculiar and plain antics.
This story is filled to the brim with love, angst, and destiny. It’s perfect for all of us.