Breaking of a Wave

Winner of the Strega Prize: A young girl in Tuscany finds hope amid heartbreak in “a story about the lonely daydreams of outsiders” (Kirkus Reviews). Smart, funny thirteen-year-old Luna lives in a small town on the coast of Tuscany. When her beloved brother, Luca, drowns in a surfing accident, Luna’s mother retreats into herself, while Luna believes that Luca still speaks to her through a whalebone washed up on the nearby shore. 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’s fantasies will soon clash with the lies—even the well-intentioned ones—of the adult world, in this touching, funny, and imaginative novel by the celebrated author of Live Bait.