We Are All So Good at Smiling

by Amber McBride

First published 2023

Whimsy returns to the hospital for clinical depression treatment. She meets Faerry, a boy who shares her sense of having magic in his bones. When Faerry's family moves to her street, Whimsy and Faerry realize their lives have connected before. Both fear the forest at the end of Marsh Creek Lane. The Forest calls to Whimsy with whispers. Faerry believes it contains answers about the missing pieces of himself. Together they enter the Forest and find monsters, fairy tales, and the pain they have spent eleven years avoiding. Their journey forces them to confront the trauma that has shaped their lives and the depression that brought them together.

Genres: fantasy, contemporary, magical-realism, young-adult

Vibes: emotional, intimate, lyrical, thought-provoking, whimsical

Tropes: found-family, unreliable-narrator

Setting: Marsh Creek Lane, The Forest

281 pages · Kindle Edition · Feiwel & Friends

Content warnings: depression, mental-illness

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