A Scar Like a River

A Scar Like a River is a compelling coming-of-age story about Fallon Little, a thirteen-year-old girl grappling with a prominent facial scar and a profound secret she feels compelled to keep. The narrative intensifies following the death of her uncle, which triggers a series of family upheavals and shifts in her friendships. As Fallon navigates a school play, an impossible aunt moving in, and the evolving dynamics with her best friends, she must decide if she has the strength to unearth even darker truths. This book is ideal for middle-grade readers aged 9-13, offering a sensitive yet unflinching exploration of grief, identity, honesty, and the power of healing.

A coming-of-age story about Fallon Little, a thirteen-year-old with a mysterious scar on her face--and a big secret she feels pressured to keep, by bestselling author Lisa Graff. Fallon has a secret--and it's not how she got the enormous scar that divides her face in two. Thirteen-year-old Fallon Little has only ever told one person what really happened on the day she got her scar. Why would she? The truth is dark, and Fallon has much brighter things to focus on, like being cast as the lead in the school play, and hanging out with her two best friends, Trent and Kaia. But when Fallon's uncle Geebie dies, his funeral ignites a wildfire of events that Fallon can't manage to tamp down. The school play is spiraling out of control, Fallon's impossible Aunt Lune comes to live with them, and Trent and Kaia might just be so into each other that there isn't room for Fallon in their friend group any more. And when secrets even worse than the one about Fallon's scar threaten to come to light, Fallon might not have the strength to keep them buried for much longer. Through unflinching prose and with a pitch-perfect voice, bestselling author Lisa Graff explores the power of confronting the past as a way to heal in the present in this propulsive and absorbing tour de force.