Nowhere Better Than Here
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
In a town slowly being destroyed by rising tides, one girl must fight to find a way to keep her community’s spirit from drowning.
For thirteen-year-old Jillian Robichaux, three things are sacred: bayou sunsets, her grandmother Nonnie’s stories, and the coastal Louisiana town of Boutin that she calls home.
When the worst flood in a century hits, Jillian and the rest of her community band together as they always do—but this time the damage may simply be too great. After the local school is padlocked and the bridges into town condemned, Jillian has no choice but to face the reality that she may be losing the only home she’s ever had.
But even when all hope seems lost, Jillian is determined to find a way to keep Boutin and its indomitable spirit alive. With the help of friends new and old, a loveable golden retriever, and Nonnie’s storytelling wisdom, Jillian does just that in this timely and heartfelt story of family, survival, and hope.
In her stunning debut middle grade novel, Sarah Guillory has written a lush story about an indomitable girl fighting against the effects of climate change.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Necessity and nostalgia clash in a small Louisiana town, where 13-year-old Jillian Robichaux fears the loss of her enclave and her Cajun identity in this timely story. Even when stormwaters repeatedly flood Boutin and damage its only school, Jillian urges her mother and grandmother to stay put: without familiar pastimes such as shrimping the bayous, "I was afraid I had no idea who I was." A photo of a long-gone diner, paired with sights of empty stilts that once supported houses and for-sale signs on waterlogged property, leaves Jillian desperate to save her community, where even the graves are submerged ("Boutin would become just like Eternal Rest Cemetery: full of ghosts, then full of water"). To drum up support for historic preservation, Jillian documents longtime residents' memories and starts a petition to rebuild the school. Guillory's determined heroine faces a rising tide on all sides, coping with an estranged father, his neglected puppy (who adores Jillian), and a best friend as eager to leave Boutin as Jillian is to remain. Guillory (Reclaimed) develops Jillian sympathetically via a colloquial first-person voice, showing how she redefines her relationship with home without compromising her love. Protagonists read as Cajun; secondary characters include Black representation. Ages 8–12.
