Wes’s struggles are convincing; the Midwestern setting is well realized…Bernhard’s coming-of-age tale is a strong debut.” —Booklist
“Winter Loon, a debut novel, is both emotional and skillfully written. Though it may be considered depressing, an inspirational facet is revealed through the eloquent and dynamic prose.” —New York Journal of Books
“Susan Bernhard carries readers to the unforgivingly frigid landscapes of Minnesota, where fifteen-year-old Wes is abandoned by his father after his mother drowns in a frozen lake. Faced with these losses, Wes must rely on himself to unpack his family’s demons and build a future over the scars of the past.” —Boston Magazine
“Curl up with this beautiful, stunning, and thought-provoking coming-of-age story.” —HelloGiggles
“Read engaging coming-of-age tale Winter Loon (Dec. 1, Little A) by Susan Bernhard. When teenager Wes’s mother drowns in a frozen lake and his father runs off, he is left to grieve with his stern grandparents. As his Minnesota town thaws, he must search for the truth of what really happened.” —Book Riot
“Winter Loon fully captures the resilience of a boy determined to become a worthy man by confronting family demons, clawing his way out of the darkness, and forging a life from the shambles of a broken past…All the more impressive when considering that Winter Loon is author Susan Bernhard’s debut as a novelist, this deftly crafted and skillfully presented coming-of-age story is an inherently compelling, thoughtfully presented, and fully entertaining read from beginning to end.” —Midwest Book Review
“A haunting coming-of-age story about a resilient boy confronting the burden of his family’s dark, broken past and finding the freedom in letting go.” —Boulder Lifestyle Magazine
“Debut author Susan Bernhard doesn’t drown the reader in Wes’s guilt and self-loathing over his mother’s death, nor the depression he feels over being abandoned by his father. She has a knack for capturing the duplicity of his treacherous emotions…Bernhard has no qualms about exploring uncomfortable issues…both in Wes’s own experiences and in the sordid secrets of his family, there are enough infusions of hope to keep Wes, and the reader, moving forward.” —Bookreporter
“The opening chapter of Susan Bernhard’s Winter Loon will leave you breathless…Bernhard plays with your emotions right up until the final paragraphs. If you like tough and twisty familial dramas, Winter Loon should be on your nightstand ASAP.” —Writer’s Bone
“Bernhard’s accomplished, if dark, debut novel is part coming-of-age and part family drama with a dose of Minnesota racism…Bernhard writes beautifully; the few paragraphs recounting Wes’s mother drowning are lyrical as well as tragic.” —Pioneer Press
“Nothing is simple, easy, or predictable in Wes’s story, yet it is highly believable and inspiring, and a thoughtful study of the complexities of family and the nature of true belonging. Winter Loon is a page-turner, beautifully rendered, and a most impressive debut.” —Minneapolis Star Tribune
“Winter Loon is a brutal, beautiful coming-of-age story in which a young man who loses everything must return to the landscape of that loss to discover what it all means. Susan Bernhard is a writer of incredible grace and power who employs weather and the natural world to plumb the icy depths of her characters’ souls for the warmth of hope, healing, and heart.” —Wiley Cash, New York Times bestselling author of The Last Ballad, A Land More Kind Than Home, and This Dark Road to Mercy
“I lost myself in Winter Loon, its rugged heart, its dark secrets, the honesty and vulnerability of its characters. With prose both taut and lush, Susan Bernhard has created the quintessential story of adolescence: raw, tender, and completely spellbinding.” —Mira T. Lee, author of Everything Here Is Beautiful
“Wes Ballot is the kind of character I read books hoping to find—imperfect and lovable, haunted yet determined to forge ahead. From the moment I slid out onto the ice with him, Winter Loon had me in its grip. A gorgeous novel from a masterful new voice.” —Anna Solomon, author of Leaving Lucy Pear
“This is a beauty of a page-turner, dreamy, disquieting, and uncompromising to the end. Against the tide of the wandering heart, the novel tells us, only love can offer us a place to rest—and only if we let it.” —Michelle Hoover, author of Bottomland and The Quickening
“Winter Loon is a stunner. In gorgeous, laconic prose, Susan Bernhard has brought to life an unforgettable character in Wes Ballot, whose coming-of-age is marked as much by his own resilience as it is the tragedy of his circumstances. I read this book late into the night. I bet you will, too.” —Peter Geye, author of Wintering
“With stunning prose and unforgettable characters, Bernhard brings us inside the life of a boy struggling to break out of the harrowing cycle of his past. This story is at once heartbreaking and inspiring—for every character determined to hold Wes down comes another with just enough ordinary grace to set him free. And the fine line between despair and redemption Wes walks will keep you holding your breath until the very end. This is a masterful debut.” —Katherine Sherbrooke, author of Fill the Sky
“Winter Loon seethes with the energy of an adolescent boy trying to figure out how to become a man. Wes Ballot is sixteen, weighed down by loss and secrets, but also uplifted by the joys of falling in love. All the while, Susan Bernhard’s muscular writing propels the reader through this striking debut.” —Alexi Zentner, author of Copperhead and The Lobster Kings
