SCATTERGOOD

In 1941, against the backdrop of turbulent world events, life unfolds in a tightknit, largely Quaker farming community where friends and family are one and the same.

Precocious, math-brained Peggy Mott, a Methodist 12-year-old who presents white, is the youngest student entering high school in rural West Branch, Iowa. Peggy is grappling with best friend Delia’s leukemia diagnosis, a first crush (on 16-year-old German Jewish refugee Gunther), a first dance, and changing relationships with friends and family. Refugees from Europe, mostly Jewish, have been staying at the nearby Scattergood Hostel, which is run by Quakers. Bouwman paints a rich, detailed landscape, from mundane farm chores to deeply layered explorations of characters and relationships. Peggy’s astute and observant first-person narrative captures her personal journey as she struggles with self-awareness, stages of grief, and her changing perspective as she’s exposed to the greater complexities of the world. Equal parts tender and heartwarming and tragically heartbreaking, this story, which will appeal to fans of Lauren Wolk, also offers a realistic depiction of marriage, showing compromises, challenges, and the different ways people care for and love each other. Readers will become deeply invested in the fully developed characters—each flawed and human but doing their best, Peggy included. The power of stories to connect people with others, bear witness, and create joy is an interwoven theme running throughout the text.

An engaging, textured, and deeply humane coming-of-age novel.