Seventeen-year-old Viv Spry is furious—at her dad, her best friend, her ex, and the gas company that destroyed her aunt’s hunting stand, the only place she still felt like herself. Ever since her aunt died, Viv’s been lost, lonely, and haunted by a strange new ability to sense energy. But when she meets Dex, the quiet new guy whose mom works for the very company she wants to take down, things get complicated. As their bond deepens, Viv must choose between justice and connection—between fighting for what’s right and protecting the people she’s starting to love.
fault lines
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A love letter to the natural world
this story shows how dismantling beliefs calls for fight and fury, but also empathy and heart. Empowering and sublime.
- Anuradha D. Rajurkar
author of American Betiya, a 2022 YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults selection
2024 Green Earth Book Award winner
2024 Texas Library Association TAYSHAS State Reading List Selection
Whippoorwill Award for Excellence in Rural Fiction, Honor Book
Gold Winner of the 2024 Nautilus Book Award, YA Fiction
2024 Cybils Awards finalist
accolades
- Gloria Muñoz, award-winning author of Danzirly
“Viv's moral compass cracks her heart wide open. This immersive story of love, land, and identity will shake the ground and make you experience the world in a whole new way. In a time of social and political polarity, Fault Lines urges us to look deeply at what we're willing to put on the line for one another. Absolutely riveting. A social- and environmentally minded book for our present and future.”
- Kyrie McCauley, award-winning author of If These Wings Could Fly and We Can Be Heroes
"With an authentic lens and compelling prose, Fault Lines takes readers deep into rural America, where Carpenter navigates divisive topics with grace. Readers will appreciate the precise pacing, relatable characters, and abundance of empathy that Fault Lines has to offer. I absolutely loved this heartfelt novel."
- Laura Sibson, author of Edie in Between and The Art of Breaking Things
"Nora Shalaway Carpenter writes about Appalachia with clear eyes and a compassionate heart. . . . This timely story is certain to grab readers who will–like me–eagerly flip the pages to learn how these engaging and determined characters will bridge the metaphorical sinkhole that divides them."
- Jeff Zentner, award-winning author of In the Wild Light and The Serpent King
"Fault Lines is a lyrically rendered and stirring story of coming of age with the natural world and falling in love. Carpenter writes the people and region of Appalachia with unfailing grace and dignity. Her love for both makes every sentence gleam."
- Anuradha D. Rajurkar, author of American Betiya, a 2022 YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults selection
“A love letter to the natural world, this story shows how dismantling beliefs calls for fight and fury, but also empathy and heart. Tough yet intuitive Viv shines as a complicated protagonist, and her connection with earnest Dex brims with hope—until they discover the devastating ways they are at odds. Honest in its exploration of the deep-rooted challenges of one rural community, Fault Lines is a masterpiece as breathtaking as our West Virginian forests. Empowering and sublime.”
- Abigail Hing Wen, New York Times bestselling author of the Loveboat, Taipei series
"A powerful and timely story that deftly navigates the complex interplay between poverty and environmentalism. I fell in love with the land as much as I did the characters."
- Han Nolan, National Book Award winning author of Dancing on the Edge
"I read Fault Lines in one sitting; it’s just that good. Riveting and real, including the magic. I only wish I’d written it myself."
