Lonely Places

Gr 9 Up–Chase and her family have lived a nomadic lifestyle for eight years, traveling around the country in loose association with other “skoolie” families (who live in converted school buses), ever since her grandparents died in a terrible house fire. Now, Chase and her sister Guthrie’s father have decided the family should settle in Pando, a grove of thousands of genetically identical aspen trees connected by a dense underground root network. Six months ago, something happened that frightened Guthrie so badly she hasn’t spoken a word since, but their parents don’t seem to be as worried as Chase is, about her sister or pretty much anything. When Chase gets a job at the nearby summer camp, complete with cute new love interest and an old mystery to solve, she pays less and less attention as Guthrie slips further away from them and into the grasp of the woods and the unsettling darkness within. Gorgeous descriptive language brings Pando to life, creating for readers a nearly tangible setting that is functional to the plot. The discord created by the family’s collective but unacknowledged trauma haunts them all, creating a slow-burn metaphysical horror with deep reverence for the natural world. Chase’s search for belonging and permanence is resonant; strong emotions, distinctive characters, and a scientifically fascinating setting right on the line between real and imaginary are only slightly dampened by an abrupt ending.