In the tradition of Jordan Peele and horror phenomenon Sinners, a YA thriller about a Black teen whose fight for survival forces a small southern vacation town to face its dark history of racial violence.
When sixteen-year-old Naomi Ward and her family head to a secluded cabin in the Shenandoah Valley for summer vacation they donโt know the small, mountain town of Sparksburg, Virginia has a dark and twisted past. But when they arrive, Naomi canโt shake the feeling that something about Sparksburg just isnโt rightโand it smells god awful, but for some reason Naomi is the only who can smell the townโs stench. When she learns Sparksburg had once been a Sundown Townโa town where Black people werenโt allowed after sunset lest they be murderedโNaomiโs unease starts to make sense.
As Naomi digs more into Sparsburgโs violent origins, she finds herself haunted by the ghost of a girl, appearing nightly outside her window. Then she learns of two girls whoโve recently gone missing and suspects the past may still be present in Sparksburg and beneath the quaint faรงade of this tourist town is a palpable danger.
When Naomi decides to track the disappearance of the two girls herself, she becomes suspicious of a local man who has kindled fear in Naomi more than once. She soon learns he has a connection to one of the missing girls, and Naomi is certain heโs responsible for the disappearances.
When no one believes her, Naomi takes matters into her own hands. But to save the missing girls, sheโll have to finally face her own past trauma as a โmissing girlโ as she finds herself in a fight for survival.
Gripping and triumphant, L.S. Stratton tells an important and unforgettable story of racial reckoning inspired by historical events.