Description
2019 IBPA Ben Franklin Awards Finalist in Teen: Fiction (ages 13-18)
2019 Foreword Indies Finalist in Children’s—Young Adult Fiction
2018 Best Book Awards Winner in Fiction: Young Adult
2018 Wishing Shelf Awards Finalist in Books for Teenagers
“This debut novel is a masterly coming-of-age story. . . This indie delight will charm readers with its story about family and self-discovery.”
—School Library Journal, starred review
“If you’re looking to add a heartwarming read to your Summer #TBR pile, The Leaving Year will be your go-to read.”
—PopSugar
“A charming, emotional story about family, fishing, and self-discovery.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“This is the perfect book to hand down to your young adult children once you’ve finished.”
—Working Mother
“Ida Petrovich, wise and brave beyond her years, takes us on an incredible journey as she seeks the truth about her father’s disappearance. Rich in period details of the 1960’s, and set against the spectacular backdrop of the Pacific Northwest and Alaska, The Leaving Year, is a lovely story of youth, sorrow, and personal growth. Truly a Young Adult must-read.”
―Anne Leigh Parrish, author of The Amendment
“In Pam McGaffin’s exceptional debut, emotion bubbles right below the surface and weaves an addictive tale of mystery and forgiveness as Ida’s search for a missing father takes her on a remarkable journey to find herself.”
― Jan Von Schleh, author of But Not Forever
“Pam McGaffin weaves a heartbreaking tale of loss and finding your way back. This coming-of-age tale is not to be missed.”
―Lish McBride, award-winning author of the Necromancer and Firebug young-adult books
“The Leaving Year takes the reader to a time and a place that is not only singular, but beautifully familiar. Author Pam McGaffin has written a powerful story of loss and its unknowns, rife with grief and confusion, and weaves it into an empowering journey of self-discovery and promise.”
―Emily Russin, writer and editor
“Pam McGaffin has crafted a coming-of-age novel that starts and ends in the fishing communities of Puget Sound, but whose landscape of imagination is really Alaska. The grandeur of the land and largeness of spirit that shapes our image of the forty-ninth state is echoed in the families that fight and feel their way through this story of caring, loss, and the price of self-awareness.”
—Steve Lindbeck, former CEO of Alaska Public Media and director of the Alaska Humanities Forum
