The Electric Life of Lavender Lewis

Following a family tragedy, a teenager living with epilepsy receives visions of a boy who needs her help in this emotionally honest novel from Storti (Tripping Back Blue). For most of her life, 17-year-old Lavender Lewis has experienced seizures and hallucinations, and it seems like none of the medications or treatments she’s tried have worked to manage them. Her mother, who has multiple sclerosis, always attempts to lift Lavender’s spirits by saying that her epilepsy is a form of magic, but Lavender doesn’t understand why magic would cause her so much pain. After her mom dies from complications of MS, a strange boy inexplicably starts appearing during Lavender’s seizures. Naming the handsome, green-eyed teen Poe, after her mother’s favorite author, Lavender and Poe forge a romance over the course of their encounters. But everything about Poe is a mystery, even to himself, and to uncover more, Lavender and her estranged aunt Tammy travel to Salem, Mass., to perform a seance that might reveal details about him. Throughout her travels, Lavender reconciles with what she believes are signs from her mom, grows closer to Poe, and wrestles with moving on. Sensate text renders a realistic depiction of living with a neurological disorder alongside a moving portrait of love, loss, and acceptance. Main characters cue as white. Ages 14–up. (May)