Lacewing Books 2015
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The Book of Laney
One afternoon, 15-year-old Laney's brother boards a school bus and massacres everyone on it. Because he commits suicide immediately after the incident, the community directs its outrage toward his family instead. When the death threats start, Laney's mother sends her to live with her grandmother in the Adirondacks. As she tries to adjust to her rustic new life, Laney begins to have enigmatic visions -- ones that help her uncover the secrets of her family's past that have been haunting them all.
Myfanwy Collins writes about longing, heartbreak, and survival better than so many other writers out there, and The Book of Laney continues to demonstrate her skills. [In] her first foray into YA territory, she imbues her teenage protagonist with such honesty, and one never feels like she is talking down to a non-adult reader. This is exactly the sort of book I would point to when others wonder if YA books can ever match the emotional heft of literary fiction.
Matthew Quick, author of The Silver Linings Playbook and Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock:
Myfanwy Collins writes with big-time empathy and fierce courage.
Roxane Gay, author of An Untamed State and Bad Feminist:
In The Book of Laney, an unsettling and redemptive novel, Myfanwy Collins fuses heartbreak and empathy to explore uncomfortable truths about teenagers, violence, and survival. An unforgettable book.