I absolutely devoured this book. Every time I stepped away I felt like I was returning from a weekend in the northwoods of Wisconsin. I loved the depth of the characters, their connections, and curiosity it stirred in me as I swept through this mystery. I hope there will be another. ( )

On the whole if the world were changing–its weather patterns and disasters, the sheer number of people and how and where they lived, worked, moved, and what there was to feed them–it was only changing as it had always been, in increments, with time enough for response if things got serious.
from News of the Air by Jill Stuckenberg

There are days when I wish I had a grandchild, and days when I am glad I have no descendent to cast into the murky waters of a world on a trajectory to disaster. I try to remember that my ancestors suffered persecution, forced immigration, pandemics, war, and social turmoil. I try to remember that the gyre might arc and return humanity to a better golden age. That at the last minute, we seem to put our shoulder to the wheel and turn the ship around before we hit the iceberg. It’s a daily challenge to choose hope over cynicism.

In News of the Air, debut author Jill Stukenberg imagines a woman who saw the world veering into disaster and choses to raise her child apart, convincing her husband to buy a north woods retreat. The cabins were run down, but nestled in the woods along a river in northern Wisconsin. Allie thought it a perfect haven, a shelter for their child. Bud isn’t so sure.

Now, their homeschooled daughter Cassie wants to break free, asking to go to high school for senior year. One of her friends from orchestra, Hattie, has tragically died and her death has become a wedge between Cassie and her mother. Allie is losing her daughter to the world. And she may be losing her husband to another woman.

Toward the end of the season an older woman arrives with two children. Cassie believes the woman has abducted her grandchildren. The mystery of these visitors and why Hattie chose death divide mother and daughter.

As a Michigander, I have spent enough time in the Upper Peninsula to recognize the world Stukenberg recreates. The deep woods and the lapping lakes, the bars where locals meet, the long stretches of empty roads, the green flashes of light in the night sky. Lake Superior’s vastness, the bridge spanning the straits. But her near-future world is disarming. She deftly weaves ecological collapse into the story. People flee the cities to backpack in the woods all summer. The wealthy have their resorts and cruel games. Schools and libraries are closing. The borders with Canada are are heavily guarded.

And yet the two things were connected–Hattie and the messed up planet; everything that withered for lack of human kindness, was slowly poisoned, so casually, by carelessness–or by outright cruelty and greed.
from News of the air by Jill Stuckenberg

I was taken by these characters who each struggle with finding their place in the world. Knowing where one belongs, when to stay and when to go. I appreciated Stukenberg’s subtle handling of the environmental and social issues into the story. This is a family drama, a coming of age story, with elements of mystery and dystopian fiction.

I received an ARC from Caitlin Hamilton Marketing & Publicity. My review is fair and unbiased. ( )