EACH NIGHT WAS ILLUMINATED

Reba Buhr delivers the first-person narrative of 17-year-old Cassie Blake, a lonely teen whose spirit has been weighed down since her mother's desertion. She sees herself as the caretaker of her family and has become an insomniac. Buhr voices the heaviness of this overly responsible middle child whose sense of belief amid the fervor of her religious small town is waning, even as her melancholy grows in the face of worsening climate change. Buhr vividly portrays Australian-accented Elias, whose spirit of adventure, magic, and caring introduces Cassie to lightness and possibility. Buhr deftly expresses their connection, which Elias ignites and nurtures until Cassie is ready to take the risks necessary to improve her life. S.W. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine [Published: SEPTEMBER 2022]