Resurrection Girls
Albert Whitman, 2019
Agent: Thao Le
Olivia stopped living the day her brother died. Three years ago, Robby toddled into the backyard pool and drowned on her watch, taking the best parts of their mother and father with him. Now sixteen, Olivia can longer remember what it feels like to really be alive, until a family of strange women move in across the street.
Nothing about the Hallas women is normal, and Kara, the daughter who is Olivia's age, has a morbid fascination—writing letters to convicted killers and criminals for murderabilia, tokens of infamy that promise to fetch a collector's price online. But Olivia's family has secrets of their own. Her mother's prescription drug addiction is only getting worse, and stealing her mother's pills has become an all too easy way for Olivia to cope herself. Overwhelmed by Kara's magnetic presence, Olivia quickly finds herself not only accepting her friend's unusual pastime, but helping her do it. Together, the girls begin writing under a collective pseudonym: The Resurrection Girls.
Empowered by this new role, Olivia rekindles her relationship with her best friend and crush from down the street, Prescott Peters. Like Olivia, Prescott is enamored with Kara and becomes a welcome third wheel, but a growing affection on all sides creates a triangle of feelings that threatens both new connections and old bonds. The deeper Kara draws Olivia into the impulsive and seductive web of her world, the more Olivia finds herself confronting the unraveling of her family's connection to the land of the living.
Reviews:
—School Library Journal
"Captivating, enchanting, and slightly macabre... Resurrection Girls is a promising debut from a talented writer. Equipped with hypnotic prose, tangible characters, and an immersive environment, it handles the heavy reality of grief with a healthy dose of the supernatural."
—Foreword Reviews (starred)
"It is a raw, captivating exploration of grief, friendship, and the reclamation of life."
—Booklist
"The lovely, assured prose draws on ancient archetypes and a lingering sense of dread to pave the way for a strange but satisfying conclusion ... Morgyn’s supernaturally tinged debut is a heartbreaking but hopeful exploration of death and grief."
—Kirkus Reviews
“Ava Morgyn's passion and tenderness shine like a candle, guiding readers through the darkness of Olivia's story. Her compelling characters are made all the more real by the eerie undertow of myth. A beautiful, deeply emotional debut!”
—Sarah Porter, author of Vassa in the Night and Never-Contended Things
"Resurrection Girls is a powerful examination of grief and loss, captivatingly woven with magic and ultimately hope. A compassionately rendered debut."
—Emily Duncan, New York Times bestselling author of Wicked Saints
"RESURRECTION GIRLS is a heartbreak of a book, where love and loss writes letters to the strange things that lurk in the darkness. It's a stunning story that blends the inexplicable and the beautiful with the bittersweet."
—Ein Chupeco, author of The Bone Witch trilogy and The Never Tilting World
"A raw, poignant, unflinching examination of grief and healing wrapped up in a compelling story. Resurrection Girls is a brilliant debut."
—CJ Redwine, New York Times bestselling author of the Ravenspire series