by Rene Steinke
First published 2015
Fifteen-year-old Dex struggles with strange visions that plague her daily life in Friendswood, a small Texas town where church suppers and high school football define the rhythm of community life. Oil rigs dot the horizon beyond this Gulf Coast settlement, and hurricane weather threatens regularly. When a toxic industrial leak poisons residents, killing some and sickening others, the disaster tears through families and friendships. A high school football player wrestles with guilt over his past actions. A grieving mother channels her rage over her teenage daughter's death into fierce activism. A father scrambles to hide his moral failures as his world collapses around him. The chemical contamination forces each family to confront painful truths they have long avoided. As the community grapples with corporate negligence and environmental destruction, four families find their fates intertwined in unexpected ways. The toxic spill becomes a catalyst that exposes hidden fractures in relationships and forces residents to choose between silence and speaking truth to power.
Genres: american-fiction, contemporary, 21st-century, environmental-science, activism, family-drama
Vibes: atmospheric, emotional, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, social-issues
Setting: Friendswood, Texas
Period: 21st-century
416 pages · Paperback · Riverhead Books
Content warnings: death