Never Seen the Stars

Teenage Hattie is left reeling following her best friend Mason’s sudden drowning in this aching speculative novel about losing touch with oneself and the healing power of connection. When she starts seeing visions of Mason after his funeral, Hattie is reluctant to tell their friends or her parents. She’s even more hesitant to reveal that she’s beginning to lose her eyesight due to retinitis pigmentosa, just like her father, who struggles to manage his own diagnosis, preferring self-isolation to learning skills and acquiring tools that could help him adjust how he navigates the world. Hattie also wrestles with grief over all the things between her and Mason that were left unsaid, and her own perceived loss of future autonomy; she pulls away from her friends and finds comfort in communicating with Mason’s ghost. Hoping to regain a sense of control, Hattie throws herself into dating her costar in the school play and attempting increasingly reckless ventures, such as skiing and driving at night despite her worsening vision. Via empathetic prose and Hattie’s acerbic narration, Korsh (When Fairies Go Too Far) ruminates on the impact and different manifestations of grief, resulting in a pensive romantic drama. Main characters cue as white. Ages 14–up. (Nov.)