Kiss the Morning Star

Chosen for the Rainbow Booklist in 2013, KISS THE MORNING STAR encompasses loss and lust, God and pot, bereavement and belief, and is an ambitious, moving debut novel for older teens by a writer with a strong literary voice.

The summer after high-school graduation, a year after her mother’s tragic death, and Anna has no plans – beyond her need to put a lot of miles between herself and the past. With forever friend Kat, a battered copy of Kerouac’s DHARMA BUMS, and a car with a dodgy oil filter, the girls set out on an epic road trip across the USA. Maybe somewhere along the way they’ll prove or disprove the existence of God. Maybe they’ll even get laid . . .

It’s a journey both outward and inward. Through the Badlands and encounters with predatory men and buffalo. A crazy bus ride to Mexico with a bunch of hymn-singing missionaries. Facing death, naked in the forest with an enraged grizzly bear . . . Gradually, Anna realizes that this is a voyage of discovery into her own self, her own silent pain – and into the tangled history that she and Kat share. What is love? What is sexual identity? And how do you find a way forward into a new future – a way to declare openly and without fear all that lies within you?

“An enormously engaging, exquisitely written, laugh-out-loud funny, original story that transcends coming out to finding yourself and the true meaning of love. Read this novel, recommend it to your friends. . .”
— Julie Ann Peters, author of LUNA

Rights details

Rights: Greenhouse c/o Rights People

USA/Canada: Marshall Cavendish (Spring 2012)

• Young Adult