Snowflake, AZ
by Marcus Sedgwick
From Printz medalist Marcus Sedgwick, a compelling novel about health — our own and our planet’s — and the stigma of illness.
Ash gets on a Greyhound bus to the place Bly was last seen: Snowflake, Arizona. Six thousand feet up in the wide red desert, Ash meets Mona; her goat, Socrates; her dog, Blackie; and finds stepbrother Bly, too.
In their ramshackle homes, the walls lined with tinfoil, Mona and her neighbors are all sick. But this isn’t any ordinary sickness: modern life has poisoned them, and when Ash too falls ill, the doctor’s response is, “It’s all in your mind.” Meanwhile, as Ash lives through a cycle of illness and recovery and loss, the world beyond is succumbing to its own affliction: a breakdown of civilization only distantly perceived by Ash and the isolated residents of Snowflake, from which there may or may not be a chance for recovery. This humane and thoughtful novel is about resilience, trust, family, and love, when all seems lost.
Rate this book
Marcus Sedgwick
Marcus Sedgwick (born 1968) was born in Kent, England. Marcus is a British author and illustrator as well as a musician.