Drifters

Emerson (Lost in Space: Infinity’s Edge) ambitiously juggles multiple timelines in this speculative tale. Far Haven, Wash., is a small town filled with mysteries stemming from an incident at the old nuclear plant, such as inexplicable illnesses and dangerous storms, with the secretive Barsuda Solutions, a local sanitation company, always in the background. In 2022, 14-year-old Sylvan is once again interrogated by Far Haven authorities regarding classmate Jovie’s disappearance four years prior. In 2018, 13-year-old Jovie desperately searches for her best friend Micah, whom no one seems to remember after she vanished a year before. When Jovie meets Mason, a boy only she can see via a spyglass she was given anonymously, she discovers Drifters, people whose corporeal forms are disconnected from the world, and suspects that was Micah’s fate. But as Jovie, Mason, and Sylvan search for the truth about Far Haven, they uncover a terrible secret that spans centuries. The connection between the novel’s myriad themes—such as government conspiracies, supernatural intervention, and alien contact—is sometimes ambiguous and makes for a jam-packed read, but the protagonists’ perseverance and the narrative’s countdown toward an unknown event maintain gripping tension throughout. Most characters cue as white. Ages: 8–12. Agent: Robert Guinsler, Sterling Lord Literistic. (May)