The Quiet and the Loud

January 30, 2023
Fox (How It Feels to Float) delivers an immersive, Sydney, Australia–set accounting of a teen struggling to overcome past traumas while dealing with her loved ones’ varying conflicts. Whenever life begins to overwhelm 18-year-old George, she escapes to the peace and quiet of kayaking. But after she learns that her estranged father is dying of heart disease, she doesn’t believe kayaking will help with her headspace, especially when she recalls a haunting memory: her father abandoning a then 10-year-old George on a kayak one night in the middle of a lake. He requests that she visit him in Seattle, saying he wants to make amends, but also asks that she not reveal his diagnosis to her mother. Meanwhile, George is unsure how to help her friend Tess, who is dealing with postpartum depression, and George’s worries over Tess stall her budding romance with newcomer Calliope. Harrowing flashbacks told via George’s vulnerable voice detail past experiences featuring her father’s alcohol dependency, while visceral depictions of Australian wildfires add a palpable element of urgency that both mirrors and impacts George’s desperation to take control of her life. George and Tess are assumed white; Calliope is of Sri Lankan descent. Ages 14–up.

January 31, 2023
Helena Fox, author of award-winning debut How It Feels to Float, returns with another powerful, heart-tugging YA novel. Nine years after her dad disappeared under the lake, 18-year-old George is still haunted by the quietness of the water and the slow rocking of the waves as she was left to fend for herself. When George’s dad turns out to be alive and living in America and calls to tell her he is dying, George questions whether she can put the past behind her or if there is a way to live with it. In striking and intimate detail, Fox deftly illustrates the pressures weighing down on George’s mental health as she tries her best to not let anyone, including her family, know how much she is suffering. The story is set against the backdrop of the global climate crisis and the 2019–20 Australian bushfires, and the exterior turmoils are a brilliant reflection of the inner battles taking place inside George’s mind, bringing attention to the effects of domestic violence, complex PTSD, and anxiety in adolescents. Fox exquisitely encapsulates the complexity teens feel, the youthful belief that they can handle anything by themselves, and then the breathtaking relief of seeking help and learning that the support of others makes you stronger, never weaker. Ideal for readers aged 15 and above, The Quiet and the Loud is perfect for fans of Kathleen Glasgow and Rhiannon Wilde.