Coming soon: The Year of Needy Girls by Patricia A. Smith

A young boy’s murder unleashes chaos in the life of a schoolteacher and a small New England town.

We are so excited for the Jan. 3 launch of THE YEAR OF NEEDY GIRLS, Patricia Smith’s debut novel. Set in a Massachusetts town with deep divisions of class and ethnicity, homophobia and violence, it is beautiful, tension-filled, lyrical, and deeply honest. Stewart O’Nan calls it “a collision of The Children’s Hour and Mystic River.”

Booklist said: “Smith conveys the impact of … prejudicial hostility on two young women who are struggling to make their way in an intolerant world with a tender and delicate understanding in this nuanced tale of identity and misperception, connection and alienation.”

You can pre-order it from Akashic Books right here.

Patty will appear  Dec. 11 at Brew-Ho-Ho, an annual holiday author celebration in Richmond, Va. Look for her at the Kaylie Jones Books reading at the AWP Conference and Bookfair Feb. 9 in Washington, D.C., and at events in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts and her home state, Virginia.