It Sustains

Morris weaves together a boy’s troubled adolescence and inexplicable supernatural doings in this subtle, elusive, and unforgettable tale. Adam moves to a new town following the death of his mother, with whom he had created a private language in childhood. Soon his cryptic dreams and visions obscure the boundaries between the living and the dead. As Adam struggles with a growing attachment to his classmate Adele and a tense relationship with his father, he makes friends with a group of young toughs. Despite Adam’s aversion to violence, a “blood bond” ceremony leads to his friends defending him in an interschool battle. Far more creepy are the enigmatic text messages warning Adam that “Uve already given too much” and “it never dies because it’s always feeding.” The rich and tragic resolution illustrates the organic way in which Morris elicits the supernatural from his rendering of ordinary life, and anguish and despair from understatement. This engrossing novella promises to sustain the reader through multiple encounters. (May)