A Walk in the Sun

A mysterious stranger comes to town in this story of romance, loss, and new beginnings. After Rose Darrow’s mother dies and her father is consumed by grief, she is left running the family’s New York State farm and watching everyone she graduated with leave for college or otherwise pursue their dreams. Bodhi Lowell, 18, is a quintessential loner, given to wandering from place to place, yet he settles in for the summer to help Rose keep the farm going. There’s immediate chemistry when the two meet, but they initially resist their attraction. Zink’s third-person narration can at times seem overly distant, the quick shifts in attention between Rose and Bodhi hindering the flow of the story as it gets underway. Regardless, Zink (Promises I Made) does a fine job of scene-setting, immersing readers in the routines and responsibilities of managing a farm, while allowing the emerging relationship between Rose and Bodhi to come to life as they tenderly draw each other’s losses and struggles to the surface. Ages 13–up. Agent: Steven Malk, Writers House. (May)