The Unfinished
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- $8.99
Publisher Description
An American Indian Youth Literature Award Honoree
In her stunning debut, Cheryl Isaacs (Mohawk) pulls the reader into an unsettling tale of monsters, mystery, and secrets that refuse to stay submerged.
When small-town athlete Avery’s morning run leads her to a strange pond in the middle of the forest, she awakens a horror the townspeople of Crook’s Falls have long forgotten.
The black water has been waiting. Watching. Hungry for the souls it needs to survive.
Avery can smell the water, see it flooding everywhere; she thinks she's losing her mind. And as the black water haunts Avery—taking a new form each time—people in town begin to go missing.
Though Avery had heard whispers of monsters from her Kanien’kéha:ka (Mohawk) relatives, she has never really connected to her Indigenous culture or understood the stories. But the Elders she has distanced herself from now may have the answers she needs.
When Key, her best friend and longtime crush, is the next to disappear, Avery is faced with a choice: listen to the Kanien’kéha:ka and save the town but lose her friend forever…or listen to her heart and risk everything to get Key back.
An unmissable horror novel for readers who devoured Trang Thanh Tran’s She Is a Haunting or Claire Legrand’s Sawkill Girls!
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Since her recently divorced parents can't afford it, assumed white and Mohawk teen Avery Ray is determined to attend college on a running scholarship. While traversing difficult terrain, a hypnotic voice lures her off her usual training path and deep into the forest, in which she encounters a mysterious, dreamlike landscape that features a pond of black water. Barely breaking free of the voice's lure, Avery makes her way back to safety, but the black water's malignancy lingers. When she starts hallucinating visions of the water and smoky, faceless forms begin stalking her every move, she fears that she's unleashed something sinister. Then someone close to her goes missing, forcing Avery to dive deep into the history of her Crooks Falls town and her own Mohawk identity if she hopes to break the curse of the black water. Sharp prose and humorous banter permeate this stellar debut by Isaacs, who crafts an atmospheric mystery filled with intrigue and harrowing imagery that shimmers brilliantly amid the eerie setting. Fully fleshed out secondary characters help Avery connect with her heritage while a romantic subplot seamlessly interweaves itself throughout her investigation. An author's note and Kanyen'kehá glossary conclude. Ages 13–up.
