November 2026, FSG/Macmillan, TBD pp
When Sidney Cromwell moves to rural Forsyth County, Georgia from the big city of Atlanta, all he wants is to fit in at his new high school. But when Sidney nearly drowns in Lake Lanier, an allegedly haunted lake that is the site of numerous inexplicable freak accidents and deaths, he becomes a social pariah as he starts to suffer terrifying visions from the past and hauntings by apparitions calling him to Lanier.
Sidney returns to the lake for answers, and he finds in its murky depths the spirits of former residents from Oscarville, the Black town that lies beneath the man-made lake. They enlist Sidney to remind Forsyth of its devastating history and push its citizens to make amends so that the souls in Oscarville can finally rest.
But Sidney soon learns that people will go to great lengths to avoid facing truths they’d rather not hear. The people of Forsyth County refuse to acknowledge the past, and as Oscarville’s populace starts to lose their patience, their rage and thirst for vengeance rise like a tidal wave.
Poignant, timely, and utterly terrifying, this gripping supernatural thriller is perfect for fans of Internment, She Is a Haunting, and You’re Not Supposed to Die Tonight.
August 2024, Farrar, Straus and Giroux/Macmillan, 336 pp
Zay’s ma always said his mouth would get him in trouble. Sure enough, it got him into his first and only fight in his junior year of high school. Expelled from his district, Zay’s only hope for redemption is to transfer to Broadlawn Alternative School and complete the year.
Zay isn’t thrilled about the disgusting school lunch and classroom trailers at Broadlawn, and boarding with his aunt Mel and her live-in boyfriend isn’t the greatest. But he’d rather be there than in the city dealing with his estranged father, his overbearing mother, and the fallout from his fight. Besides, Broadlawn has Feven, the beautiful new student Zay is starting to get to know—and fall for.
Still, first love is rarely a fairy tale, and as Zay’s time in Broadlawn comes to an end, he learns that shaping yourself within a new place is a lot harder than letting it shape you.
A tender contemplation of first love, broken families, and healing generational trauma by an incredible voice in young adult fiction