How To Be Luminous
The long-awaited follow-up to The Square Root of Summer, for fans of Nina LaCour and Jandy Nelson.
Minnie Sloe and her sisters have weathered it all together—growing up without fathers, living an eccentric lifestyle with a pet rabbit name Salvador Dali, and riding out their famous artist mother’s mental highs and lows.
But then their mother disappears, and Minnie, who was supposed to follow in her artistic footsteps, starts seeing the world in monochrome. Literally. How can she create when all she sees is black-and-white?
As grief threatens to tear the three sisters apart, Minnie fears she could lose everything: her family, her future, her first love . . . and maybe her mind.
How to be Luminous is a lyrical and engrossing story about the aftermath of tragedy and the power of self-belief.
The Square Root of Summer
A stunning debut novel the New York Times calls a "delectable romance."
Gottie's heart has been broken three times. One, when her best friend moved away without saying goodbye. Two, when her beloved grandfather died. Three, when her first love wouldn't even hold her hand at the funeral.
As Gottie spirals deeper into grief, her past literally comes back to haunt her when she is inexplicably sent back in time to good memories and bad, revisiting afternoons of kisses and days she wanted to forget forever. This summer, Gottie's past, present, and future are about to collide―and she's the only one who can figure out why.
The Square Root of Summer is an exponentially enthralling story about love and loss, from debut YA voice Harriet Reuter Hapgood.
Praise for The Square Root of Summer
A Teen Vogue Best New Book of 2016
An American Booksellers Association "Indies Introduce New Voices" selection winter/spring 2016
An American Booksellers Association "Indie Next" pick for Summer 2016
A YALSA 2017 Best Fiction for Young Adults pick
A CILIP Carnegie medal nominee for 2017
“[T]he delectable romance and the moment when past, present and future all come together and semi-solve the mysteries of Gottie’s time travel make the journey worthwhile.” The New York Times
“Harriet Reuter Hapgood's electric YA debut reminds us that time is a healer.” Buzzfeed
“Reminiscent of a modern-day Brideshead Revisited, it has a real bohemian vibe.” South Wales Evening Post, five-star review
“While this book does deliver on the title's promise of teenage vacation hijinks, romance, and mathematical equations, it also presents a heartrending quandary: How to move forward with a life that has been defined by loss. It presents an earnest picture of the way loss ripples through a family and shapes the movements of everyone it touches." NPR
“Harriet Reuter Hapgood delivers a clever and compelling story of love, loss and resilience . . . an exciting, shouldn't-miss debut with a fresh and enthralling time-travel twist." USA Today, Happily Ever After
“Gottie might just be our next favorite YA heroine." Hello Giggles
“The Square Root of Summer proves that time travel and young love go hand in hand." Mashable
“An epic romance with twists that will leave you breathless." Kami Garcia, #1 New York Times bestselling co-author of Beautiful Creatures and author of The Lovely Reckless
“Sophisticated and believable . . . An emotional roller-coaster ride worth taking." School Library Journal, starred review
“A story of complex grief, love, and growth." Kirkus
“Reuter Hapgood’s novel will lodge in the hearts of readers." Booklist
“A poignant portrait of a girl struggling with loss and love, this novel is equal parts heart and smarts, with a dash of friends-turned-more sweetness." The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
“Set to be one of the most talked-about YA debuts of 2016. Love, loss and heartbreak told in a wholly authentic teenage voice." The Bookseller, one to watch
“An atmospheric, romantic, and beautifully-written puzzle of a book, starring a lovably unconventional cast of characters." Leila Sales, author of This Song Will Save Your Life and Once Was a Time
“It is so idiosyncratic that it really becomes set apart from other YA books. Perplexing but extraordinary." Guardian Children's Books
The Square Root of Summer is out in the US, UK, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Spain and Turkey, and available on Audible audiobook. Publication to follow in Brazil.
How To Be Luminous is out in the US and the UK, with publication to follow in Italy, Spain and Turkey.
To order in the US, find your local independent bookstore at IndieBound. To order in the UK, find your local independent bookshop at Hive. I like the magical Tales On Moon Lane in Herne Hill in south London and Much Ado Books in Alfriston, East Sussex.