A Lite Too Bright

After his ex-girlfriend takes out a restraining order against him and he loses his college scholarship, 18-year-old Arthur Louis Pullman III’s world implodes. He goes to live with his aunt and uncle, where he uncovers the journal of his late grandfather and namesake. Arthur’s grandfather was a famed author who was plagued by Alzheimer’s. His mysterious death seems to link back to the years before he wrote an American classic and disappeared from public view (á la J.D. Salinger). Following the clues he perceives within his grandfather’s writings, and attempting to relive the first Arthur Louis Pullman’s final days, Arthur boards a train for a cross-country odyssey. Miller’s debut novel weaves together several other larger-than-life literary figures and events, including gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson, the beat generation, and the Kent State shootings, creating a love letter to social justice and American literature. The story integrates sections from Arthur’s grandfather’s piercing, at times bewildering, poems, which come to mirror young Arthur’s own tortuous search for balance, meaning, and personal redemption amid chaos. This complex and turbulent novel sees a troubled teenager slowly regain a sense of purpose by forging a connection with the past. Ages 13–up. [em]Agent: Joanna Volpe, New Leaf Literary & Media. (May) [/em]