Thirteen-year-old Luna lives in a small town on the coast of Tuscany. She is smart and funny. And she is albino. When her brother Luca drowns in a surfing accident, Luna’s mother retreats into herself. At school, stricken by her loss yet determined to carry on, Luna makes a new friend and ally, the eccentric Zot, a boy from Chernobyl. Luna believes that Luca still speaks to her through a whale bone washed up on the shore. In truth, this is part of a ruse that has been orchestrated by Sandro, Luca’s former teacher, as a misguided way to assuage the guilt he carries with him.
Luna’s fantasies clash with the lies—even the well-intentioned ones—of the adult world in this touching, droll novel by the author of Live Bait (Other Press, 2014). Luna is an unforgettable character—vivid, stubborn, highly imaginative, determined to become her own person—who will appeal to readers of all ages.