Description

Booklist Editors' Choice: Books for Youth

NPR Books We Love Pick

New York Public Library Best Book of the Year

The author of the New York Times bestselling horror phenomenon She Is a Haunting is back with a novel about the monsters that swim beneath us . . . and live within us.

Since the hurricane, the town of Mercy, Louisiana has been overtaken by a strange red algae bloom. Noon and her mother have carved out a life in the wreckage, trawling for the mutated wildlife that lurks in the water and trading it to the corrupt harbormaster. When she's focused on survival, Noon doesn't have to cope with what happened to her at the Cove or the monster itching at her skin.

Mercy has never been a safe place, but it's getting worse. People are disappearing, and the only clues as to why are whispers of underwater shadows and warnings to never answer the knocks at night. When the harbormaster demands she capture the creature that's been drowning residents, Noon finds a reluctant ally in his daughter Covey. And as the next storm approaches, the two set off to find what's haunting Mercy. After all, Noon is no stranger to monsters . . .

About the Author

Praise For…

“A literary tour-de-force that should go down in history as a masterclass in atmospheric and terrifying writing.” —Kosoko Jackson, USATODAY bestselling author of THE FOREST DEMANDS ITS DUE

“A briny, rotting ode to the things we must become to survive and the things we yearn to become when the surviving is over. In elegant, atmospheric prose, Trang Thanh Tran peels back layers of salty skin and sea foam to expose the truth: even when we are wrong, even when we are monstrous, we are whole.” —Courtney Gould, award-winning author of THE DEAD AND THE DARK

“Gorgeous, gruesome, and fiercely cathartic, They Bloom at Night is body horror with a beating heart.” —Rebecca Mahoney, author of THE VALLEY AND THE FLOOD and THE MEMORY EATER

“Contrasts the disturbing with the beauty of human connection. . . . A moving contemplation on queerness and gender identity, the immigrant experience, and moving beyond survival to fight back against oppressors.” —Booklist, starred review

“A strange and grisly tale of what we can survive to get closer to our truest selves, deeply infused with Vietnamese cultural concepts.” —School Library Journal, starred review

“Trang Thanh Tran writes about monsters real and imagined with luminous language, a rich sense of place (haunted Louisiana waters) and nonbinary and trans kids as compelling personalities. . . . Readers come away believing that an ability for gritty transformation--to create our own strengths, to find our genuine selves, to take revenge where necessary and to love well wherever possible--is within reach of all of us.” —NPR

“Tran fills the pages with sensory detail, creating a haunting setting that immerses readers in their worldbuilding. Noon is a complex and multifaceted protagonist, whose reckoning with trauma and selfhood (especially gender identity and Vietnamese ancestry) is the emotional center anchoring the extraordinary plot events.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Tran weaves a pulsing-pounding climate disaster thriller.” —Publishers Weekly

“The atmospheric, immersive descriptions of the setting underscore the vital symbiotic relationship between human and nature that gets ignored in the pursuit of capitalistic extraction.” —Horn Book

“The author's brilliant, visceral descriptions slink over the skin and dig into the marrow.” —Shelf Awareness

“The thematic horror elements are beautifully executed, anchored in Noon's pensive voice.” —BCCB

“A riveting debut from a remarkable new voice! Trang Thanh Tran weaves an impressive gothic mystery in which Jade's father is determined to restore a decrepit home to its former glory and Jade is the only person who feels the soul-crushing devastation of colonialism lingering within its walls.” —Angeline Boulley, #1 New York Times bestselling author of FIREKEEPER'S DAUGHTER, on SHE IS A HAUNTING

“She Is a Haunting is exactly the kind of book I love--gorgeous prose, a deliciously terrifying atmosphere, incisive thematic resonance, and a gloriously complex heroine. Jade is an unforgettable character, all tender longings and sharp edges, and readers everywhere will root for her just as hard as I did. Put it on your shelf next to Rebecca and The Haunting of Hill House. An incredible, riveting debut.” —Claire Legrand, New York Times bestselling author of FURYBORN and SAWKILL GIRLS, on SHE IS A HAUNTING

“This exquisitely disturbing tale of identity and colonialism and intergenerational trauma will eat its way under your skin and live there forever. Read this one with the lights on. I'm ready to be haunted by whatever Trang Thanh Tran writes next.” —Emily X.R. Pan, New York Times bestselling author, on SHE IS A HAUNTING

“She Is a Haunting is a beguiling feast of a book that drew me in immediately with its exquisitely unsettling atmosphere, vivid prose, and creeping horrors--both supernatural and all too human.” —Kate Alice Marshall, author of I AM STILL ALIVE and RULES FOR VANISHING, on SHE IS A HAUNTING

“Electric and unsettling with a deliciously rich theme readers will sink their teeth into, She Is a Haunting is my absolute favorite new entry in the gothic genre. Layers of identity, fright, and heartfelt romance are tenderly laid one over the other, creating a richly complex story that questions the very nature of a haunting. Trang Thanh Tran is a force to be reckoned with.” —Courtney Gould, award-winning author of THE DEAD AND THE DARK, on SHE IS A HAUNTING

“A satisfying blend of traditional horror with modern themes and concerns. Both the ghosts and the humans in this richly layered work are alluring and deadly.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review, on SHE IS A HAUNTING