The Flicker

For more than a year, Millie and her family have been hiding underground from the aftermath of the deadly Flicker, a solar flare that scorched Earth’s surface. After a scavenging mission gone wrong results in her stepfather’s death, Millie pledges to take her infant brother Sammy somewhere they can learn to survive nature’s new normal: South Carolina, home to Millie’s Seminole grandmother. Reluctantly accompanied by her white-cued stepsister Rose, Millie treks through a blistered Appalachia in search of her Indigenous roots. Along the way, Millie finds herself swept into a found family of survivors, becomes embroiled in Rose’s inquiry into a secret enclave, and must come face to face with a greedy, resource-hoarding organization called Hive. The palpable sense of futility that Millie feels in her pursuit of a better life for her and her siblings acts as a perceptive interpretation of tweens’ struggles to navigate contemporary societal upheaval. Meanwhile, incisive worldbuilding surrounding the climate collapse makes this middle grade debut a simultaneously cautionary tale and dystopian adventure in which Edgmon (Godly Heathens) showcases the unflagging power of community in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds. Ages 8–12. (Sept.)