First published 2010
Adrian draws pictures and dreams of owning a dog in his small Australian town. The nine-year-old lives with his silent uncle and controlling grandmother after his parents disappeared. He fears quicksand, sea monsters, and spontaneous combustion. At school, his best friend Clinton abandons him for the class intellectual. Three children named Zoe, Christopher, and Veronica went for a walk on a beautiful autumn day and never returned. Now a strange man has moved into the house across the street and keeps his shutters closed. Adrian wonders who this neighbor is and what he might be hiding. In this suffocating town where no one is innocent, Adrian's curiosity may lead him into danger. The story follows a lonely boy whose questions about the adults around him reveal the dark secrets lurking beneath the surface of his community.
Genres: 20th-century, coming-of-age, mystery, psychological-thriller, 21st-century, family-drama
Vibes: atmospheric, intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Australia
Period: 20th-century, 21st-century
198 pages · Paperback · Le Serpent à plumes
Content warnings: anxiety, depression, mental-illness