The Drowning Summer

In Herman’s (All of Us Villains) atmospherically told tale of the supernatural, 16-year-old fashion designer Mina Zanetti wants to join the family business—not the Italian American catering company that her mother, Stella, runs in Long Island suburb Cliffside Bay, but the Zanetti clan’s work as mediums transitioning ghosts from one world to the next. Hoping for some on-the-job training, Mina accompanies Stella to Sand Dollar Cove, a beach where three high school juniors were killed six years prior in a never-solved case, and where Stella uses saltwater to communicate with ghosts of the dead. Meanwhile, Mina’s former friend Evelyn Mackenzie, also 16, heads to the Cove to summon a spirit, hoping that it will remove evidence that she has cheated on a test. But her clumsy efforts cause trouble for the teens, both bisexual and white-cued, who recall a previous summoning that ended their friendship. The author ticks a wide range of age-bracket and genre standbys—troubles with parents, a past mystery, and false accusations—but wider-world problems, including pollution, add layers and originality to the plot. Ages 14–up. Agent: Kelly Sonnack, Andrea Brown Literary. (Apr.)■