Winterfolk

Rain lives with her alcoholic father in a homeless camp outside Seattle. Despite threats to dismantle the encampment, Rain believes that those who live there—the Winterfolk, she calls them—are essentially invisible. Her only friend is King, a homeless 17-year-old who has taken it upon himself to look after her. When King takes Rain into the city to celebrate her 15th birthday, he crosses paths with Cook, a petty drug dealer, and that’s where the trouble begins. Debut novelist Kolby explores homelessness through the eyes of a teenage girl who can’t remember not living in a tent in the woods; a stripped-down narrative voice and the language of fairy tales shape Rain’s worldview. Kolby creates a believably naïve main character, but some readers may find Rain’s musings, which are often repetitive and opaque (“We step careful over the thorny blackberry branches. I clench my teeth to keep from talking to the blackberries upon blackberries, mostly fresh and waiting to rot, the rest smashed”), a barrier to fully appreciating her story. Ages 14–up. Agent: Beth Phelan, Bent Agency (Feb.)