The Painting [Hardcover]

A haunting, beautiful middle-grade novel about fractured relationships, loss, ghosts, friendship and art.

Annie and her mother don't see eye to eye. When Annie finds a painting of a lonely lighthouse in their home, she is immediately drawn to it--and her mother wishes it would stay banished in the attic. To her, art has no interest, but Annie loves drawing and painting.

When Annie's mother slips into a coma following a car accident, strange things begin to happen to Annie. She finds herself falling into the painting and meeting Claire, a girl her own age living at the lighthouse. Claire's mother Maisie is the artist behind the painting, and like Annie, Claire's relationship with her mother is fraught. Annie thinks she can help them find their way back to each other, and in so doing, help mend her relationship with her own mother.

But who IS Claire? Why can Annie travel through the painting? And can Annie help her mother wake up from her coma?

The Paintingis a touching, evocative story with a hint of mystery and suspense to keep readers hooked.One of CCBC’S Best Books for Kids & Teens (2018)

[A] cleverly constructed, compellingly paced mystery that's part time-slip story, part ghost story, part meditation on the power of dreaming. . . . Full of emotional truth and connection. --Kirkus Reviews

“3/4… [T]he mounting tension between Claire and Maisie is painfully believable… Highly recommended.” --CM Magazine

Readers will connect with the characters and fall into the storyline with its focus on artists, loss, and family relationships... Recommended. --School Library Connection

Moody and atmospheric... the story unfolds at exactly the right pace and is a delicately nuanced tale of secrets, shadows of the past, family ties, heartache and healing. --Atlantic Books TodayCHARIS COTlă