First published 2010
Clementine sees everything she lacks in her cousin Fan. Fan is beautiful where Clementine feels plain. Fan is imaginative and untamed. The two girls spend a summer together and make a pact to remain best friends and sisters forever. But when summer ends, reality sets in. Clementine returns to her city life while Fan stays in the dusty town of Lake Conapaira. The distance between their worlds grows wider. Fan searches for something she cannot name or understand. Neither girl knows what Fan needs or where to find it. Their friendship faces the small disasters that can destroy the bonds between people. Clarke tells the story of two young women pulled apart by circumstances and their own inner struggles.
Genres: fiction, friendship, 20th-century, coming-of-age, contemporary, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family
Setting: Lake Conapaira
Period: 20th-century
288 pages · Kindle Edition · Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)