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A SCATTER OF LIGHT

Malinda Lo

Aria Tang West thought she'd be spending one last summer on Martha's Vineyard with her friends before starting MIT in the fall, where she intends to study astronomy, like her late grandfather. But after topless photos of her are posted online, she's abruptly uninvited from her friends' summer homes.
Aria's parents, a writer and opera singer with plans of their own, send Aria to stay with her artist grandmother, Joan West, in Northern California. Although Aria has never been attracted to girls before, she finds herself drawn to Joan's gardener, Steph Nichols, an aspiring musician a few years older than Aria. The only problem? Steph isn't single; she lives with her girlfriend, Lisa. But the chemistry between Aria and Steph seems undeniable, and Aria pursues a relationship that will turn her world upside down. At the same time, while Aria helps her grandmother with an art project, she becomes interested in creating art of her own. Over the summer, Aria's desire for Steph becomes entwined with the development of Aria's artistic self. When Aria's grandmother suddenly suffers a stroke, Aria and Steph's relationship escalates, and Aria will be forced to face her choices and herself in ways she has never had to do before. Set in 2013 shortly after the legalization of same-sex marriage in the United States, A SCATTER OF LIGHT is a companion novel to Last Night at the Telegraph Club, and is about how the threads of family, inspiration, art, and identity are woven across generations. Malinda Lo is the critically acclaimed and bestselling author of several young adult novels, including Ash, Huntress, Adaptation, Inheritance, A Line in the Dark, and Last Night at the Telegraph Club, which received eight starred reviews and is a Finalist for the 2021 National Book Award for Young People's Literature. Her debut novel Ash, a lesbian retelling of Cinderella, was a finalist for the William C. Morris YA Debut Award, the Andre Norton Award for YA Science Fiction and Fantasy, the Mythopoeic Fantasy Award, and was a Kirkus Best Book for Children and Teens. She has been a three-time finalist for the Lambda Literary Award. Malinda's short fiction and nonfiction has been published by the New York Times, NPR, Autostraddle, The Horn Book, and multiple anthologies. She lives in Massachusetts with her partner and their dog.
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Published 2022-10-01 by Dutton

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A SCATTER OF LIGHT by Malinda Lo appears on 3 "Best of" lists: - NPR's 2022 Books We Love List: "Full of yearning, meditations on art and self-revelation, A Scatter of Light has a simmering intensity and feels like a portal to that moment when you realize that the world, and your place within it, is so much bigger than it seemed." - Barnes & Noble Best Books of the Year - PopSugar's Best YA of 2022

Using the summer of 2013, when same-sex marriage became legal in California, as the backdrop, Lo here presents an excellent coming-of-age and coming out story. Characters are complicated and messy but in a realistic and relatable way. The story is driven by Aria's truthful narration, which is beautifully reflective of an 18-year-old at that time. Aria is biracial (Asian and white), with most other characters defined or cued as white. Although not a sequel to Last Night at the Telegraph Club, there is a glimpse into Lily and Kath's life since the events of that novel. VERDICT A must-have for any library collection.

Aria's vulnerable narration is an intensely driving force in this expansive tale of yearning, self-discovery, and first love.

...Aria's story is not just about discovering and embracing your sexuality. It's also about what it means to be an artist, a friend, a daughter and a granddaughter, and about how identities of all kinds can converge and crystallize as part of the process of growing up.

Lo's novel explores the complexity of queer identity through a sex-positive lens... Lo vividly conveys the giddy euphoria of a teenage crush while also recognizing the fraught nature of Aria and Steph's mutual attraction when Steph is in a relationship with someone else. And yet A SCATTER OF LIGHT does not make moral judgments about its characters--Aria's foibles and mistakes are what make her a compelling protagonist... Both newcomers and longtime fans of Lo's work should enjoy this narrative of a young