The Accident Season

Gr 10 Up—Triple layers of protective clothing, padded furniture, knives locked away, and the gas turned off. It's October, the accident season for Cara's family, but all her mother's precautions will not be enough to protect them from the cuts, bruises, broken bones, or worse. Cara's sprained wrist and her sister Alice's concussion are minor compared to previous years, though Bea's tarot cards indicate that this will be one of the worst accident seasons yet. Cara has just discovered that her elusive former friend, Elsie, mysteriously appears in every photo in her scrapbook, past and present. Unfortunately, Elsie has disappeared from her usual spot in the school library and, other than Cara's best friend Bea and her ex-stepbrother Sam, no one seems to know who she is. As the last week of October commences, finding Elsie takes on a sense of urgency for Cara, who senses she may somehow be connected to the yearly turmoil in her family's lives. With Halloween fast approaching, all the horror of accident seasons past begins coming back to haunt them, and the lies and secrets that each family member has locked away gradually come to light. Similar in style to Alice Hoffman's Practical Magic (Putnam, 1995), Fowley-Doyle's stunning debut novel weaves the temporal and the spiritual into a seamless reality, rich in emotional impact. Devastating loss and abuse are balanced by romance, teen hijinks, and spine-tingling discoveries. Provocative content adds to the intensity and will keep readers riveted.