Soulstruck

Seventeen-year-old Rachel Ferguson and her mother, Naomi, were nomads before settling in the beach town of Wellfleet, Mass., when they inherited Rachel’s grandfather’s house. A few years later, Naomi has resumed her unusual work of running a lightning-strike survivors group—since she was struck, she has been able “to see anyone’s soul mate almost as simply as the rest of us could see someone’s eye color.” Naomi recognizes that this knowledge is as daunting as it is enlightening, and she blocks herself from seeing Rachel’s soul mate. Less interesting are Rachel’s relationships with Reed, a love interest who is withdrawn due to a past trauma; Serena, her best friend who has recently joined a new clique; and Jay, her other best friend and blooming romantic interest. When Rachel finds a secret box of letters from her late father, it ignites a search for her own identity. This second novel by Sinel (The Fix) can be constrained by expository dialogue and an overly internal narration that loses sight of its larger, inventive premise. Still, the book’s hint of the supernatural is successfully balanced by more down-to-earth insights into the complications of love and fate. Ages 12–up. [em]Agent: Linda Epstein, Emerald City Literary. (June) [/em]