The Lost Coast, by Amy Rose Capetta. Candlewick Press, 2019

When Danny and her mother pick a random spot on the map to move to, they have no idea that Danny’s hand with the pin in it was being controlled by others. Now, in a small town in Northern California, the people who guided that selection need her to help them find their lost friend, Imogen. This group, a small sort of coven that the local kids call the Grays, are in high school and hang out together doing magic, which comes naturally to them. Being with them leads Danny to discover her own magic- she is a dowser, a finder. She must find the lost Imogen- who is, in fact, physically present, but with her soul gone. There is someone or something in the redwood forest that is willing to kill; can Danny overcome it and find Imogen? And is she anything more to the Grays than a useful tool? She is falling in love with one of them and really wants to know…



This sounded like a book I’d love, even though it’s YA- northern California? Check. Girls working magic? Check. Quest? Check. But I had a hard time really getting into the book. The book has good atmosphere, good descriptions of location, and good diversity of characters (racial, sexual orientation, gender). But the characters still blended together when the action got going and I had trouble remembering who was who. The never seemed to be in school, and other than Danny’s mother and the parents of Imogen, never seem to wonder where they are. Even Danny, who constantly breaks curfew to be with the Grays, mostly does as she pleases. The move to California was brought on by Danny doing something that required a ‘clean slate’- it’s never said *what* she did, but it seems to have something to do with her falling in love with another girl. What her mother thought about her joining a group of queer girls is never stated! Three stars.

Confessions of the Fox, by Jordy Rosenberg. One World, 2018

There are a lot of layers going on in this book, so many that I suspect I’m not educated enough to even notice. It’s a story within a story; it’s a wild adventure story and also a statement about how people of color, the queer and the trans people have been erased from history. It also mentions colonialism, privacy issues, Marxism, women’s rights, and I’m sure lots of other things that I missed.

The first narrative is that of Dr. R. Voth, a transman in academia who comes across an old manuscript at the university library’s used book sale. When he reads it, he discovers it’s the biography of Jack Sheppard, who was a real historical person who attained legendary status. The date on the manuscript is 1724, and as Voth reads and transcribes it, he puts numerous footnotes in it. Some are just to let us know what the antique slang means, but as the story goes on, the footnotes take on a more autobiographical status and tells us Voth’s own story, which is even more convoluted and much more depressing. They also become very political in nature.

Jack’s story starts with him as P, a young girl sold into slavery to a furniture maker. Shackled to their bed at night, Jack learns to pick locks with ease, and by his teens is using his nights to explore London. Wearing male clothing and tightly binding his breasts, he escapes his owner and lands in the room- and the arms- of Bess Khan, an Asian sex worker. His adventures include running from both the police and the local crime boss, avoiding the plague, and a truly horrifying gender confirmation surgery. Despite the odds against them, Jack and Bess determine to be together. Despite all the other reviewers calling Jack ‘trans’, I swear he is intersex, identifying as male. This group of people seem even less understood than trans people.

There are so many characters that at times I couldn’t keep track of who was who- this wasn’t helped by having the two narratives weaving in and out of each other. Did I enjoy the book? Yes, a great deal. But a lot of the political references seemed grafted crudely on, rather than being a smooth part of the story, and that made them rather jolting- and not in the mind-opening, good way. It felt at times like I was reading an early draft, rather than a polished product. Because of that, I can only give it four stars. 

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