What We Buried

Estranged siblings Jory, 18, and Lavinia (Liv), 16, are brought back together when Liv files an emancipation lawsuit against their parents. Their parents vanish just before the trial is set to begin, and Liv, a former child beauty pageant winner and reality TV star, convinces Jory to join her in a trip to find them. Jory, born with Moebius syndrome, has always felt invisible to his image-obsessed parents, while Liv has lived out a nightmare in front of thousands of viewers who saw her as a pretty, spoiled brat. The siblings’ road trip reveals more than either expected, and years of resentment are washed away with a mutual understanding that both suffered at the hands of their parents. Boorman (Winterkill) creates an almost dreamlike thriller about two young people trying to figure out fact from fiction after trauma. Told through the alternating perspectives of Jory and Liv, Boorman’s perceptive novel underlines the different types of abuse that children can suffer and the long-lasting psychological effects of abuse on young minds. Ages 14–up. [em]Agent: Michael Bourret, Dystel, Goderich & Bourret. (Feb.) [/em]