LEX Copyright Iroda / LEX Copyright Office

THE DEPTHS
by Nicole Lesperance

THE DEPTHS by Nicole Lesperance

THE DEPTHS a YA contemporary fantasy by Nicole Lesperance. Razorbill publishes October 2022.

About the book: Addie is shattered after suffering a freediving accident that left her clinically dead for eight minutes. She can’t stop coughing blood, she’s not allowed to train anymore, and her mom insists on dragging her along on her honeymoon to a private tropical island. Addie’s certain these two weeks in paradise are going to be a nightmare.

She’s right, but not for the reasons she thinks.

Eulalie Island is stunning, with its secluded beaches and forests full of white flowers. But the birds keep calling Addie’s name, and there’s a strange little girl in the woods who wants to play hide and seek. When Addie learns about two sisters who died on the island in the 1800s, she starts to wonder if there’s more to this place, things only she can see.

Then she meets the caretakers’ reclusive older son, and all the flowers start turning pink. He shows her a network of underwater caves deep beneath the island, and they sneak out every night to explore them. Addie knows it’s dangerous, but she’s too intrigued to stop. The flowers are turning blood-red now, sprouting everywhere she goes. The island loves you, the boy tells her. But Addie doesn't realize that when the island loves someone, it never lets them go.

About the author: Nicole Lesperance lives near Boston with her husband and two small children. In addition to the YA novels The Depths and The Wide Starlight, Nicole is the author of the middle-grade duology The Nightmare Thief and The Dream Spies. She also writes short fiction, and her story “The Callers” won’t the 12th Annual Writer’s Digest Short Story Competition. Nicole is a tech research editor, is the proud owner of rambunctious black cats, and likes to practice yoga, knit, and read tarot cards. https://nicolelesperance.com

Praise for the author’s previous work:

THE WIDE STARLIGHT:

* A Junior Library Guild Selection!

“With her vividly rendered settings, emotionally complex characters, and sweet and sinister magical realism, Lesperance may be a promising successor to Alice Hoffman...[The Wide Starlight is] sharp and snow-dusted yet strangely cozy; a comforting winter's read.” – Kirkus, starred review

“A lovely exploration of grief and the way stories shape our lives—and how reshaping stories can have consequences. The pages fly by as Lesperance’s compelling voice and masterful switching between present-day narrative and fairy-tale past smoothly build a portrait of intergenerational love, loss, and magic rooted in a glittering Arctic landscape.” – Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, starred review

“This mesmerizing and sometimes heartbreaking fantasy reveals the complicated relationships between mothers and daughters...A haunting contemporary fantasy.” – School Library Journal

“Lesperance weaves the myth and magic of Norwegian folklore into a realistic setting in this wintry tale of a teen searching for her long-lost mother...an emotionally complex tale of the love between mothers and daughters that balances between ominous and cozy.” – Booklist

“[A] promising debut.” – Publishers Weekly

“Poetic and richly imagined, The Wide Starlight is a spell-binding journey through a world of Nordic fairytale…the heart-wrenching story of a teenage girl and her quest to reclaim and understand the mother who abandoned her.” – Edith Patou, award-winning author of East and West

“This story is beautifully written, its pages filled with magical realism and folklore. Set upon the backdrop of frozen glaciers and stunning northern lights, it speaks of loss and acceptance. The prose is poetic and elegant. And each of the stories woven into the pages are lovely. Its a quick read that was difficult to put down. While it wasn’t the type of book I generally seek out, I immensely enjoyed it. There was just enough magic and suspense to keep my attention.” – Melissa Mitchell, author of the Dragonwall series

“Nicole Lesperance blends crystalline prose, an atmospheric setting and memorable characters to create a story that dances and shines as brightly as the northern lights in her debut YA novel, The Wide Starlight.” – BookPage