cover image Waiting for Unicorns

Waiting for Unicorns

Beth Hautala. Philomel, $16.99 (256p) ISBN 978-0-525-42631-8

Ever since her mother died of cancer, 12-year-old Talia has been lost in grief. Her father’s whale research takes the two of them to the small coastal town in Manitoba, where they will live with his old friend, an Inuit woman named Sura. Talia hopes to find a unicorn whale (a narwhal), which she believes can make her most important wish come true: the chance to say one last goodbye to her mother. With help from Sura, new friends, and her own father Talia discovers that while some wishes go unanswered, others come true in their own ways. Debut author Hautala weaves Inuit stories and tradition, as well as the fairy tales Talia’s mother told, into this affecting exploration of grief and the hope that can come through the love of good friends. With spellbinding descriptions of Talia’s icy new surroundings (“the new snow looked like it was lit from beneath. It was almost as if the sun had somehow broken itself apart and burrowed under the arctic landscape”), this story will stay with readers. Ages 10–up. Agent: Danielle Chiotti, Upstart Crow Literary. (Jan.)