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A NEWBERY HONOR BOOK • A CALIBA GOLDEN POPPY AWARD FINALIST • A KIRKUS REVIEWS AND BOOKLIST BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
Fern’s lived at the Ranch, an off-the-grid, sustainable community in upstate New York, since she was six. The work is hard, but Fern admires the Ranch's leader, Dr. Ben. So when Fern’s mother sneaks them away in the middle of the night and says Dr. Ben is dangerous, Fern doesn't believe it. She wants desperately to go back, but her mom just keeps driving.
Suddenly thrust into the treacherous, toxic, outside world, Fern thinks only about how to get home again. She has a plan, but it will take time. As that time goes by, though, Fern realizes there are things she will miss from this place—the library, a friend from school, the ocean—and there are things she learned at the Ranch that are just...not true.
Now Fern will have to decide. How much is she willing to give up to return to the Ranch? Should she trust Dr. Ben’s vision for her life? Or listen to the growing feeling that she can live by her own rules?
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Creators
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Publisher
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Awards
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Release date
April 2, 2024 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9780593795392
- File size: 259164 KB
- Duration: 08:59:55
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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February 5, 2024
A white 12-year-old slowly reacclimates after fleeing a futurist cult in this heartening tale by O’Shaugnessy (Lasagna Means I Love You). After living for six years on the Ranch—a self-sustaining, off-the-grid farm in New York helmed by the ill-tempered Dr. Ben—Fern Silvana’s “world cracks open” when she and her mother escape against Fern’s wishes to a coastal town near San Francisco. Initially, Fern is furious and desperate to find a way back to the Ranch. But as she gets to know the people of Driftaway Beach—especially Scottish and South Asian American classmate Eddie and kind tea shop owner Babs—and becomes reacquainted with pleasures and technologies banned on the Ranch (dancing, fantasy fiction, K-Pop, medicine, sugar, TV), Fern’s resolve wavers. Wistful first-person narration probes Fern’s conflicting emotions as she fumbles for a sense of belonging and struggles to think for herself. Driven by a growing self-awareness that she can choose who and what she believes, this is a moving portrait of a girl undergoing drastic change and fitting the broken pieces of her world together to find her place in it. Supporting characters are intersectionally diverse. Ages 10–up. Agent: Pete Knapp, Park & Fine Literary. -
Caitlin Kinnunen's youthful voice increases sympathy for vulnerable 12-year-old Fern, who wants to return to The Ranch, a cult community that is the only home she can remember. Fern's mother woke her in the middle of the night and took her to a new home a coast away. Kinnunen's narration reflects Fern's confusion, anger, and determination to return to The Ranch. She also stresses Fern's innocence and fear of germs and technology, all of which reflect her sheltered background. Kinnunen increases the tension as Fern's need for connection challenges what she thinks she knows. Gradually, Kinnunen reveals how Fern's absolutist views change as she comes to understand life's complexities and her place in the world. S.W. © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine
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