Bøker av Anne Valente

From award-winning author Anne Valente comes this poignant and unforgettable literary novel of two estranged sisters?one a former race car driver and the other a recently released prisoner?who embark on a road trip together to complete the scavenger hunt their mother designed for them before her deathWhen Billie is released from a correctional facility in Decatur, her sister Rhiannon is there to meet her, even though the two haven't seen each other in months. Painful secrets and numerous unspoken betrayals linger between them?but most agonizing is the sudden passing of their mother, a renowned paleontologist.Rhiannon and Billie must overcome their differences as they set off on a road trip west, following the bread crumb trail of their late mother's scavenger hunt, a sort of second funeral she planned in her final days. The sisters know the trail will end in Utah at the famous Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry, where their mother spent her career researching fossils. But the seemingly endless days on the road soon take their toll, forcing Rhiannon and Billie to confront their hostilities and revisit old memories.As they travel across the heart of America, and as a series of plane crashes in the news makes their journey feel increasingly urgent, the two sisters begin to rediscover each other, taking them on an unexpected emotional journey inward, and forcing them to confront their own choices in life.

The lives of four teenagers are capsized by a shocking school shooting and its aftermath in this powerful debut novel, a coming-of-age story with the haunting power of Station Eleven and the bittersweet poignancy of Everything I Never Told YouAs members of the yearbook committee, Nick, Zola, Matt, and Christina are eager to capture all the memorable moments of their junior year at Lewis and Clark High School?the plays and football games, dances and fund-drives, teachers and classes that are the epicenter of their teenage lives. But how do you document a horrific tragedy?a deadly school shooting by a classmate?Struggling to comprehend this cataclysmic event?and propelled by a sense of responsibility to the town, their parents, and their school?these four ?lucky? survivors vow to honor the memories of those lost, and also the memories forgotten in the shadow of violence. But the shooting is only the first inexplicable trauma to rock their small suburban St. Louis town. A series of mysterious house fires have hit the families of the victims one by one, pushing the grieving town to the edge.Matt, the son of the lead detective investigating the events, plunges into the case on his own while Nick scours the Internet to uncover what could cause a fire with no evident starting point. As their friend pulls farther away, Matt and Christina battle to save damaged relationships, while Zola retreats into art, seeking something to salvage.This is a story of grief, but also of community, family, and the search for understanding and normalcy in the wake of devastating loss. Told with stunning clarity and gorgeous prose, Our Hearts Will Burn Us Down explores profound questions about resiliency, memory, and recovery that brilliantly illuminate the deepest recesses of the human heart.

The lives of four teenagers are capsized by a shocking school shooting and its aftermath in this powerful debut novel, a coming-of-age story with the haunting power of Station Eleven and the bittersweet poignancy of Everything I Never Told YouAs members of the yearbook committee, Nick, Zola, Matt, and Christina are eager to capture all the memorable moments of their junior year at Lewis and Clark High School?the plays and football games, dances and fund-drives, teachers and classes that are the epicenter of their teenage lives. But how do you document a horrific tragedy?a deadly school shooting by a classmate?Struggling to comprehend this cataclysmic event?and propelled by a sense of responsibility to the town, their parents, and their school?these four ?lucky? survivors vow to honor the memories of those lost, and also the memories forgotten in the shadow of violence. But the shooting is only the first inexplicable trauma to rock their small suburban St. Louis town. A series of mysterious house fires have hit the families of the victims one by one, pushing the grieving town to the edge.Told with stunning clarity and gorgeous prose, Our Hearts Will Burn Us Down explores profound questions about resiliency, memory, and recovery that brilliantly illuminate the deepest recesses of the human heart.