The Serpent King Paperback / softback

Longlisted for the Carnegie MedalWinner of the American Library Association Morris Award for best debut YAWinner of the Amelia Elizabeth Walden Book Award for Young Adult FictionA Buzzfeed Best of 2016 book Goodreads Choice Awards finalistA Barnes & Noble Best Book of 2016Publishers Weekly Best of 2016Dill is a misfit in his small, religious Tennessee town.

His dad is in prison for a shocking crime, and his mom is struggling to make ends meet.

The only things getting Dill through senior year are his guitar and his fellow outcasts, Travis and Lydia.

Travis is an oddball who finds comfort from his violent home life in an epic fantasy book series. And Lydia is like no one else: fast-talking, creative and fiercely protective.

Dill fears his heart will break when she escapes to a better life elsewhere.

What Dill needs now is some bravery to tell Lydia how he feels, to go somewhere with his music – and to face the hardest test of all when tragedy strikes.