WAITING FOR THE NIGHT SONG by Julie Carrick Dalton

 

A startling and timely debut, Julie Carrick Dalton's Waiting for the Night Song is a moving, brilliant novel about friendships forged in childhood magic and ruptured by the high price of secrets that leave you forever changed.

Cadie Kessler has spent decades trying to cover up one truth. One moment. But deep down, didn’t she always know her secret would surface?

An urgent message from her long-estranged best friend Daniela Garcia brings Cadie, now a forestry researcher, back to her childhood home. There, Cadie and Daniela are forced to face a dark secret that ended both their idyllic childhood bond and the magical summer that takes up more space in Cadie’s memory then all her other years combined.

Now grown up, bound by long-held oaths, and faced with truths she does not wish to see, Cadie must decide what she is willing to sacrifice to protect the people and the forest she loves, as drought, foreclosures, and wildfire spark tensions between displaced migrant farm workers and locals.

Waiting for the Night Song is a love song to the natural beauty around us, a call to fight for what we believe in, and a reminder that the truth will always rise.

MY THOUGHTS:

This story is about people hurting each other because of their legality and being there for each other when they are needed most. About friendships that are sacred and deep yet also surrounded by a few lies. Lies to protect and lies that could and do hurt. Lies that are meant to protect.  Friendships will be put to the ultimate test. Can they survive after all these years or will they break a childhood friendship? This is a very touching and heartfelt story. 

This line was my favorite from this book: "Why do you love that bird so much?" Daniela whispered. "Because no one else notices it. You hear the day sone all the time. Most people don't even know it sings at night sometimes," Cadie said. 

This is the story of two young girls, barely teens, and one boy. The summer that changed all of their lives forever. It's so well written and so full of nature. The things that pull me to a story. The descriptions are beautiful. From the forest, the beetles, the lake, the sky. It's all written in a way that makes you feel like you are there. Even the smoke from the fire. It's a great story filled with such emotion. You will laugh in parts and cry in others. Hold your breath and hope for the best in a few. But in the end you will be happy you read this one. It's that good. 

Cadie and Daniela became best friends during a summer filled with so much. Boating around a lake, picking blueberries to sell and in a way befriending the Garrett. Garrett is a boy who they call the boy on the pier. Quote from the book: The boy on the pier in the ratty lawn chair. The kid who cherished her books as much as she did. The author of her first love letters. Cadie pushed down the ache swelling in her chest as they walked up the stairs to the police station side by side.

I love this line from the end in the acknowledgments: And, lastly, to the real-life Summer Kid-the boy who sat alone on the end of his pier reading, fishing, and daydreaming-I have no idea who you are or what your name is, but as I paddled by your pier, summer after summer, you inspired a story in my mind that took on a life of its own. I hope your world is rich and full of the adventure I imagined you to be dreaming of.

 

This is a beautiful story. Even with all the bad, the good outweighs it. The good things are so good. There are a couple of stories going on in this book. There is the before and the present. What happened during that summer and what happened many years later. This is a book you need to read. 

Thank you to #NetGalley, #Macmillion-tor/forge, #JulieCarrickDalton, for this ARC. These are my own true thoughts about this book.

5/5 stars and a very high recommendation!