Lost in the Ark

A grieving teenager seeks solace in her faith in this ambitious read by Agnew. Eighteen-year-old Kate Bennett is looking forward to attending the Ark, a New Hampshire Christian school where she’ll train to become a missionary. After months of dealing with the fallout of her mother’s sudden death, she can’t wait to escape her childhood home’s claustrophobic atmosphere and the feelings of guilt prompted by her father’s blaming Kate for the stroke that killed her mother. When she arrives at the isolated campus, Kate immediately acclimates to the Ark’s outwardly idyllic, rhythmic routine, making new friends and crushing on the pastor’s nephew, Luke. Though Kate craves affection, Luke, acting in accordance with Ark rules, won’t do more than hug her or hold her hand; when she meets openly affectionate local boy Nick, she struggles to resist her attraction to him. Sporadic, briskly paced flashbacks covering Kate’s convoluted history detail the unraveling of her relationships with her mother, Ark schoolmates, and myriad men throughout her life. Via brief chapters and dialogue-heavy interactions, Agnew unevenly touches on issues such as homophobia, infidelity, purity culture, and sexual violence. Most characters read as white. Ages 13–up. (Self-published)