Beneath a Meth Moon: An Elegy - Tapa dura

* "Woodson crafts a story of powerful emotional intensity through her poignant portrayal of a young woman lost and in pain. The depiction of small-town life, with its Dollar Store, Wal-Mart and limited economic opportunities adds texture and authenticity. This is beautifully written, with clear prose that honors the story it tells. . . . Most of all, it is populated with fully realized characters who struggle to make sense of tragedy. . . . A moving, honest and hopeful story."--Kirkus Reviews, starred review

* "Dreamlike story . . . peppered with the voices of expertly sketched characters and rich with writerly observations. . . . Woodson maintains tension throughout, making it abundantly clear how easy it is to succumb to meth and how difficult it is to recover from it."--Publishers Weekly, starred review

* "Powerful, stripped-down novel. . . . Full of rich, sensory images . . . giving the story a dreamlike quality. . . . A natural choice for fans of Go Ask Alice or Ellen Hopkins's Crank. An outstanding novel that succeeds on every level."--School Library Journal, starred review

"Woodson takes us on the dark journey of addiction, mimicking the slow, hazy spell of drug use with the lull of her poetic prose. . . . Laurel's descent is brutally honest. . . . An intimate and compelling story of survival."--The Horn Book

"As accurate as it is heartbreaking; readers will be deeply moved . . . they'll sympathize with [Laurel's] desire to find some way to feel better. . . . Readers looking to understand the attraction of a destructive substance will get a glimmer of understanding."--The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

"Will not disappoint readers. . . . Ends on a hopeful note: perhaps it is possible to write pain 'into the past and leave some of it there, ' and reimagine a future."--Booklist

Jacqueline Woodson is the 2018-2019 National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature

Laurel Daneau has moved on to a new life, in a new town, but inside she's still reeling from the loss of her beloved mother and grandmother after Hurricane Katrina washed away their home. Laurel's new life is going well, with a new best friend, a place on the cheerleading squad and T-Boom, co-captain of the basketball team, for a boyfriend. Yet Laurel is haunted by voices and memories from her past.

When T-Boom introduces Laurel to meth, she immediately falls under its spell, loving the way it erases, even if only briefly, her past. But as she becomes alienated from her friends and family, she becomes a shell of her former self, and longs to be whole again. With help from an artist named Moses and her friend Kaylee, she's able to begin to rewrite her story and start to move on from her addiction.

Incorporating Laurel's bittersweet memories of life before and during the hurricane, this is a stunning novel by one of our finest writers. Jacqueline Woodson's haunting - but ultimately hopeful - story is beautifully told and one readers will not want to miss.