Where the Sun Shines Out

One summer day in 1992, 10-year-old Dean Fleming, the protagonist of Catalano’s gripping first novel, is waiting in line with his brother, Jason, and their father for autographs of the Munchkins at the annual Chittenago, N.Y., festival celebrating L. Frank Baum, local hero and author of the Oz books. When their father briefly leaves them, Wayne and Carol Flowers abduct the boys and take them to a secluded cottage on Lake Oneida. Jason dies at the hands of their captors, but Dean manages to escape by swimming across the lake. When the police try to question Dean to gain his assistance in finding Wayne and Carol, he remains mute. Wracked with guilt over his failure to save his brother, he pushes his parents away. Even the people of Chittenago find themselves changed as their lives intertwine with Dean’s in the years that follow. This tale of loss, punishment, and the struggle for forgiveness grabs the reader by the throat and never lets go. Agent: Kirsten Carleton, Prospect Agency. (Oct.)