by Jonathan Coe
First published 2018
Young Claire escapes her arguing parents by hiding in the dump behind her house. There she discovers a jagged piece of broken mirror that draws her in with strange power. The ugly shard of glass transforms her drab world into something magical. Gray skies become blue paradise in its reflection. Her modest suburban home appears as a towered castle topped with seashells. Claire grows up carrying this enchanted mirror. In it she sees her face free of teenage acne and watches her father embrace her mother lovingly at the pub. Reality tells a different story. Her father flirts with his new girlfriend and plans to abandon the family. The boy Claire loves dates her worst enemy. The mirror creates only illusions. Furious, Claire nearly throws it away when Peter appears. He was her classmate years ago in middle school. Peter asks Claire on a date and suggests they meet at the dump. Claire feels shocked when she learns the truth. Peter has found his own piece of broken mirror. The fragments are actually pieces of a much larger puzzle.
Genres: fantasy, contemporary, magical-realism, young-adult
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Dump, Suburban Home
Period: Teenage Years
96 pages · Hardcover · Unbound
Content warnings: depression