The Great Unknowable End

Gr 9 Up—Stella designs space reentry capsules in her spare time from her two part-time jobs and helping to raise her younger sister, but her dream of becoming an engineer has been put on hold since her mother died and her older brother joined the Red Sun cult. Gaillard was born into Red Sun and prays to his stars, Jimi Hendrix, Buddy Holly, and Janis Joplin. He's never been much interested in the outside world, especially since he doesn't think his Tourette's syndrome would be accepted there, but he's forced to reconsider when he is assigned kitchen work and can't pursue his dreams of becoming a resident musician. Stella and Gaillard alternate narration as they find each other and consider their futures over the course of August 1977 in small-town Slater, Kansas. Historical events ,such as the moon landing Stella witnessed as a child, the opening of Star Wars, and the news frenzy over the police pursuit and arrest of the Son of Sam are tightly woven into the plot. Meanwhile, unexplained events such as pink lightning, blood rain, and mysterious countdown clocks appearing in the town square and in Stella's closet make for a subtly eerie atmosphere that fans of Stranger Things or Welcome to Night Vale will feel right at home in. The many ambitious symbolic and narrative threads aren't quite wrapped up satisfactorily by the end, but readers of literary historical fiction will find plenty to sink their teeth into.