Losing Gabriel

Gr 9 Up—Pleasure reading for fans of romance twinged with tragedy. The lives of three middle Tennessee young adults are intertwined in McDaniel's latest love story. Sloan Quentin dreams of musical stardom as the way to escape her trailer-park upbringing. But when she runs from a cheating boyfriend into the arms of the new guy, her path takes an unexpected turn. Dawson Berke is fuming. His dad moves them from Baltimore to Windemere, TN, for his senior year. For his dad, it's the only way they can begin again after his mom's death, but Dawson is counting down the days until he can leave his new home for good. Alana "Lani" Kennedy has been working toward her dream of becoming a nurse since her cousin Arie died years earlier. When her life becomes entangled with Dawson's and Sloan's, her dedication to nursing will be rocked to the core. The bulk of the novel focuses on the characters as young 20-somethings. These three young adults are forced to grapple with making their own choices and accepting responsibility for those decisions. Filled with emotional highs and lows, this latest offering will resonate with fans of McDaniel's other works.