by Jake Halpern
First published 2015
Marin watches the sun shrink to a sliver on the horizon of her strange island home. Here, dawn arrives only once every twenty-eight years, and now the long Night approaches. The cold creeps in as shadows stretch across the land. When the sun sets completely, the tide will retreat for hundreds of miles, forcing all islanders to flee south by ship. Marin and her twin brother Kana help their parents prepare their house with bizarre rituals. They remove locks from doors, arrange furniture in specific patterns, and set tables just so. The adults refuse to explain these mysterious preparations. Just before the ships depart, Line, a teenage friend of the twins, vanishes. Only Marin and Kana know where he went. They face an impossible choice: abandon Line to save themselves, or stay behind to rescue him as their world transforms into something unrecognizable. The boats are leaving. Night falls across the island. Time runs out.
Genres: science-fiction, adventure, fantasy, apocalyptic
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, emotional, suspenseful
Tropes: impossible-choice, time-running-out
Setting: Island
Period: Night
346 pages · Hardcover · G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
Content warnings: anxiety, death