Lost Voices - Softcover

"A haunting debut. . . . Porter's writing is expressive and graceful. . . . . a captivatingly different story."
--Booklist "A beautifully written and heartbreaking story about a lost soul struggling to forgive the people she loved who wronged her, and ultimately to forgive herself."--Jennifer Echols, author of Going Too Far "It might be shelved as a fantasy, but Lost Voices is full of gripping, harsh realism. Without resorting to stereotypes or tired high school plots, it deals with the complications of friendship and peer pressure. And at its core, it's nothing more than a really believable, understandable and relatable story about finding one's voice. Its relevance to real life and its references to the real issues that create lost girls --- abuse, neglect, rape, bad parenting and more--make it a one-of-a-kind mermaid story. For that reason, it will appeal to paranormal, fantasy and realism fans alike."--teenreads.com "This is a dark and compelling take on a world usually depicted as more lighthearted. . . . Porter nonetheless carefully doles out enough possibilities to keep the overall tone hopeful, and given the already numerous perky mermaids, these gritty, wounded souls are a creative and welcome addition to the field."--Bulletin "The beautifully crafted first book of the Lost Voices trilogy is told in such a rich, despairing aqua tinged tone, it leaves you desperate for more."--Fantasy Book Review

Fourteen-year-old Luce reaches the depths of despair when she is assaulted and left on
the cliffs outside of her grim, gray Alaskan fishing village. She expects to die when she
tumbles into the icy waves below, but instead undergoes an astonishing transformation
and becomes a mermaid.
A tribe of mermaids finds Luce and welcomes her in—all of them, like her, lost
girls who surrendered their humanity in the darkest moments of their lives. Luce is
thrilled with her new life until she discovers the catch: the mermaids feel an uncontrollable
desire to drown seafarers, using their enchanted voices to lure ships into the
rocks. Will Luce be pressured into committing mass murder?