Publishers Weekly
★ 01/09/2017
Callie da Costa is 16 when her older sister, Tess, whom many believe channels God’s divine will, dies from an untreated heart defect. After a missing six-year-old, Ana Langone, reappears at one of Tess’s shrines and other reports of Tess’s miracles pour in, Callie’s mother is set on having Tess named a saint. Determined to stop the petition for sainthood and debunk the miracle of Ana’s safe return, Callie teams up with Danny, an old friend who has a complicated relationship with both sisters. Callie’s first-person chapters alternate with excerpts from Tess’s journals, weaving Tess’s final thoughts and experiences with those of Callie in the months after Tess’s death. Through these two perspectives—alleged saint and grieving sister—debut author Bayerl unspools a gripping story of loss and grace. The search for Ana’s abductor and the eventual revelations surrounding her kidnapping form a poignant parallel to Tess and Callie’s relationship, deftly underlining the ways in which grief can warp reality and encourage self-destruction. Richly and evocatively written, Bayerl’s story is ideal for fans of Jandy Nelson and Melina Marchetta. Ages 12–up. Agent: Erin Harris, Folio Literary Management. (Mar.)
From the Publisher
Praise for A Psalm for Lost Girls:
A Barnes & Noble Most Anticipated YA Debut of 2017
A Bustle Most Anticipated Young Adult Debut of 2017
A Spring 2017 Amazon Pick – Spring’s Best Young Adult Fiction
★ “[A] gripping story of loss and grace. . . . Richly and evocatively written, Bayerl’s story is ideal for fans of Jandy Nelson and Melina Marchetta.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review
★ “Fans of realistic fiction, mystery, or crime thrillers will find themselves at home in this spectacular debut. . . . A compelling must-have for YA collections.”—School Library Journal, starred review
“Now and then comes a book that is able to put it all together: real and compelling characters, page-turning suspense, brilliant writing. This is one of those books.”—Francisco X. Stork, award-winning author of Marcelo in the Real World and The Last Summer of the Death Warriors
“[P]acked with vivid cultural scenery, this ambitious debut offers readers a journey worth taking.”—Kirkus Reviews
“Many issues are presented in Bayerl’s novel—mental illness, modern sainthood, sisterly love, family dynamics, romance—giving it wide appeal among readers.”—VOYA
“Ideal for fans of both mysteries and character-driven novels.”—Booklist
“Lyrical and nuanced . . . Bayerl’s debut will appeal to a wide range of readers. . . . A haunting tale of family, first love, and miracles.”—RT Book Reviews
“A mystery, a thriller, and a prayer, gripping and anguished, told in the poignant weaving of voices from beyond and voices left behind.”—Julie Berry, Printz Honor author of The Passion of Dolssa
School Library Journal
★ 03/01/2017
Gr 8 Up—Two years ago, Callie's older sister Tess started hearing a voice. Tess could often tell if something ominous was on the horizon. The resulting throng of believers changed the course of the da Costas' lives as their daily rhythm became punctuated by visitations from pilgrims and makeshift shrines to Tess. After Tess was unable to answer prayers to locate a missing girl (the da Costas' neighbor Ana), the pressure to perform intensified, and she died of an undiagnosed heart condition at 17. Callie's mom is focused solely on the hope that Tess will be made into a saint. Tess's secret boyfriend Danny and Callie set out to prove that nothing Tess did was miraculous so that her memory can be left alone. In the process, they become enmeshed in solving the mystery of Ana's disappearance. What may seem at first like a far-fetched premise turns out to be a beautifully rendered, wholly believable tale. Bayerl's characters jump off the page, and excerpts from the deceased girl's journal make her as real as everyone else. The idea that a teen might worry about her physical relationship with her boyfriend because it isn't the behavior expected of a saint feels as natural as more typical adolescent concerns. The mysteries of Tess's voice and Ana's unsolved kidnapping weave in and out and around the narrative, which also delves into grief, sisterhood, mental illness, class, and more. Fans of realistic fiction, mystery, or crime thrillers will find themselves at home in this spectacular debut. VERDICT A compelling must-have for YA collections.—Jill Heritage Maza, Montclair Kimberley Academy, NJ
APRIL 2017 - AudioFile
Narrators Saskia Maarleveld, Julia Whelan, and Kyla Garcia bring to life a teenager's journey to discover if her dead sister is truly the miracle-making modern-day saint everyone believes her to be. Maarleveld handles the bulk of the performance; her cool, casual voice is a perfect fit for the grieving Callie da Costa as she tangles with the death of her saintly sister, Tess. Garcia gives a bright and hopeful performance of Tess through the diary she left behind. Whelan ties it all together as she narrates the story of a missing child whose reappearance could be Tess’s posthumously sanctified miracle. The trio provides a performance that will awaken, or reawaken, listeners to the possibility of miracles. J.E.C. © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
2016-12-21
Tess da Costa was believed to work miracles but lost street cred after failing to find Ana, a child abductee; when, months after Tess dies, Ana's found alive, Tess appears slated for sainthood—unless her sister, Callie, can stop it.Callie, white and wrapped in grief and anger, has no compassion to spare for Tess' followers, desperately coping with troubles of their own, or for Tess' Puerto Rican boyfriend, Danny, whom she recruits in her crusade. Callie's failing in school and at war with her hospital-receptionist single mom. Her feelings for Tess (and the church) are complicated. If Tess, 17, was the angel, Callie, 16, felt like her demonic twin. Tess' journal, excerpted throughout, reveals that being cast as saintly was no picnic, either. Not all plot elements mesh neatly. Callie and Danny's hunt for Ana's abductor, a plot thread explored partly from Ana's point of view, has gravitas; however resolved, a child abduction leaves lasting scars. While Callie's family history takes up a fair chunk of plot real estate, she's the story's beating heart—scrappy, resentful, funny, and, above all, observant of her hardscrabble, working-class southeastern Massachusetts town and its denizens. Of Portuguese, Latino, and Irish descent (but not Cape Verdean), with strong cultural and religious (Roman Catholic) immigrant ties, they've struggled economically since the mills closed. Plot and pacing could be tighter, but packed with vivid cultural scenery, this ambitious debut offers readers a journey worth taking. (Fiction. 12-16)
