Amelia Unabridged

Schumacher centers storytelling as a means of expression, connection, and keeping the dead alive in this emotionally immersive debut. Shortly after the death of her best friend, Jenna, 18-year-old Amelia receives a mysterious package containing a signed copy of her favorite book—the first of the Orman Chronicles fantasy series, written by 19-year-old N.E. Endsley. Sure that the book was sent by Jenna, Amelia heads to the lakeside Michigan town where it was posted to find answers about its provenance and Jenna’s death. Her search for meaning takes Amelia to a rambling, colorful bookstore, somehow both delightfully cozy and endlessly rambling, run by a wise bookseller named Val, her son Alex, and the reclusive N.E. Endsley himself, who Amelia soon discovers is harboring a painful loss and secrets of his own. Employ- ing expressive prose that communicates the emotion and tumult that can accompany the death of a loved one at any age, Schumacher leaves characters—and readers—with a sense of hope. Ages 12–up. Agent: Thao Le, Sandra Dijkstra Literary. (Feb.)