Л. К. Мэдиган — новинки

Lena, almost 16 and living in a northern California surfing community, has been forbidden by her father, a former surfer who suffered a terrible accident in the water years ago, from learning her peers’ favorite sport. She is an excellent swimmer, though, and while spending time at the local beach, she begins to think she might be seeing a mermaid out in the waves. Being a practical girl, this of course strikes her as unlikely, but a host of subtle clues that include the discovery of her mother’s true identity and fate lead her to an undersea world of mer-folk. Lena distances herself from her life on land as she takes up residence in her mother’s community below the ocean, but eventually she must choose between her diverging destinies. Madigan does a stellar job of bringing readers inexorably from what at first seems like a realistic problem-novel plot of family issues to an enjoyable fantasy of a girl who finds that she is only half human. The characters, whether teen, child, or adult, are well-rounded and integrated into the plot. In addition to her parents, Lena must also consider the sensibilities of her younger brother and her best friend and figure out how she feels about her two boyfriends, one human and one mer. With highly imagistic descriptions and savvy dialogue, Madigan offers a rewarding and credible story that uses fantasy elements to bare truths about family ties.
--Francisca Goldsmith

Winner of the 2010 William C. Morris Award!

Fifteen-year-old Blake has a girlfriend and a friend who’s a girl. One of them loves him; the other one needs him.

When he snapped a picture of a street person for his photography homework, Blake never dreamed that the woman in the photo was his friend Marissa’s long-lost meth addicted mom. Blake’s participation in the ensuing drama opens up a world of trouble, both for him and for Marissa. He spends the next few months trying to reconcile the conflicting roles of Boyfriend and Friend. His experiences range from the comic (surviving his dad’s birth control talk) to the tragic (a harrowing after-hours visit to the morgue).

In a tangle of life and death, love and loyalty, Blake will emerge with a more sharply defined snapshot of himself.