Lo, Malinda. Scatter of Light, A. Dutton, 10/2022. 324pp. Fiction. Grades 9-12. $18.99. 978-0-525-55528-5. OUTSTANDING.
In the summer of 2013, Aria’s parents send her to stay with her grandmother in California as a way of separating her from her friends. Her exile turns into an awakening as Aria begins to connect with her aging artist grandmother, rediscover her dead grandfather through his papers and videos, and learn to name the truth about her own desires and actions. Befriended by a local gardener who introduces her to a working-class lesbian community, Aria has to expand both her self-knowledge and her interactions with others in a coming-of-age/coming-out story which really explores the way self and society, and art and inspiration, are tied together. Wonderful glimpses into the real-life history of the summer when gay marriage was legalized in California are an additional bonus of the tale. This book has California-specific content.
Lesley Mandros Bell—Unaffiliated