Back to the Bright Before

After 11-year-old Perpetua “Pet” Martin’s woodcarver father falls from a ladder and is unable to work, her mother takes on long shifts waitressing to make ends meet, and her nearly five-year-old brother Simon stops saying any word but cheese. Pet, meanwhile, carries significant guilt about her own involvement in the incident. When Pet hears a poem about a rare, valuable coin whose sale would pay for their now-depressed father’s needed third surgery, she comes up with a brilliant plan to find it on the nearby sprawling grounds of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Abbey. But a neighbor’s menacing adult son wants the treasure, too, and the siblings’ adventure involves both borrowing a pony and keeping adults none the wiser, even as three enigmatic figures assist them. Debut author Nolte incorporates religious imagery and Latin vocabulary into a fantastical quest about a winningly indomitable protagonist who remains devoted to her family and mission. If some questions remain unanswered, a sweetly mystical vibe comes through as the story touches on themes of community care, familial alienation, and parentification. Most characters cue as white. Final art not seen by PW. Ages 8–12. Agent: Kerry Sparks, Levine Greenberg Rostan. (May)