1 of 3 copies available
An Instant New York Times Bestseller
Last Night at the Telegraph Club author Malinda Lo returns to the Bay Area with another masterful queer coming-of-age story, this time set against the backdrop of the first major Supreme Court decisions legalizing gay marriage.
Aria Tang West was looking forward to a summer on Martha’s Vineyard with her best friends—one last round of sand and sun before college. But after a graduation party goes wrong, Aria’s parents exile her to California to stay with her grandmother, artist Joan West. Aria expects boredom, but what she finds is Steph Nichols, her grandmother’s gardener. Soon, Aria is second-guessing who she is and what she wants to be, and a summer that once seemed lost becomes unforgettable—for Aria, her family, and the working-class queer community Steph introduces her to. It’s the kind of summer that changes a life forever.
And almost sixty years after the end of Last Night at the Telegraph Club, A Scatter of Light also offers a glimpse into Lily and Kath’s lives since 1955.
-
Creators
-
Publisher
-
Release date
October 4, 2022 -
Formats
-
OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9780593609927
- File size: 294732 KB
- Duration: 10:14:01
-
-
Languages
- English
-
Levels
- Lexile® Measure: 790
- Text Difficulty: 3-4
-
Reviews
-
Starred review from August 22, 2022
This raw and bittersweet story by Lo, a 2013-set standalone companion to Last Night at the Telegraph Club, follows MIT-bound 18-year-old Aria West, who’s anticipating spending her summer visiting friends on Martha’s Vineyard, like she does every year. But those plans are canceled when a classmate circulates topless photos of Aria online just before graduation. Disappointed and blaming her for the photo leak, Aria’s parents send her to stay with her paternal grandmother in “the remote woods of Marin County” outside of San Francisco, where she immediately connects with gender-nonconforming singer-songwriter Steph Nichols. Led by Steph, Steph’s possessive girlfriend, and their acerbic friend Mel Lopez, Aria immerses herself in San Francisco’s joyous LBGTQ culture. Aria’s enthusiastic exploration of her sexuality, her growing feelings for Steph, and her discovery of old photos, videotapes, and papers from her divorced parents’ complicated history turn what she assumed would be a lonely summer in exile into a transformative experience. Aria’s vulnerable narration is an intensely driving force in this expansive tale of yearning, self-discovery, and first love. Aria is white and Chinese; Mel is Latinx-cued; most other characters read as white. Ages 14–up. Agent: Michael Bourret, Dystel, Goderich & Bourret. -
Narrator Annie Q recounts the summer that will change Aria Tang West's life forever. After topless photos of her are released without her consent, Aria's parents think it's best that she spend her last summer before college at the home of her grandmother, an artist, in Northern California. Although school is out, Aria gains an education in art, astronomy, and queer culture. Things become complicated when her first girl crush happens to be her new, and unavailable, friend, Steph. Annie Q's voice transforms for every character, whether they are the elderly, white grandmother; the absent mother, who speaks with a Chinese accent; the flighty best friend from high school; or the irresistible butch 20-something gardener. Q even delightfully sings Steph's songs. Shifting perspectives abound. S.S. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
-