The Quiet and the Loud

Fox (How It Feels to Float) delivers an immersive, Sydney, Australia–set accounting of a teen struggling to overcome past traumas while dealing with her loved ones’ varying conflicts. Whenever life begins to overwhelm 18-year-old George, she escapes to the peace and quiet of kayaking. But after she learns that her estranged father is dying of heart disease, she doesn’t believe kayaking will help with her headspace, especially when she recalls a haunting memory: her father abandoning a then 10-year-old George on a kayak one night in the middle of a lake. He requests that she visit him in Seattle, saying he wants to make amends, but also asks that she not reveal his diagnosis to her mother. Meanwhile, George is unsure how to help her friend Tess, who is dealing with postpartum depression, and George’s worries over Tess stall her budding romance with newcomer Calliope. Harrowing flashbacks told via George’s vulnerable voice detail past experiences featuring her father’s alcohol dependency, while visceral depictions of Australian wildfires add a palpable element of urgency that both mirrors and impacts George’s desperation to take control of her life. George and Tess are assumed white; Calliope is of Sri Lankan descent. Ages 14–up. (Mar.)