The Soul Seekers
by Amy Saia
It is 1979, and after her father's death, 17-year old Emma Shay and her mother move to a small town to live with Emma's grandmother. Emma gets a job at the library where she meets a beautiful and mysterious boy, William, who studies there every day. After some time, she realizes that she is the only one who can see him. As William also realizes this, they are drawn to each other and fall in love. Their bond is strong, they can communicate without words and Emma knows she will do anything to help William, even give her own life, so he can be whole again. Then she meets another young man, Jesse, who drives a Camaro and works in a record store. Jesse, who's a cool guy, tries to get close to Emma, but she is in love with William. Emma soon discovers that strange forces are taking over their small town and that her own mother is involved. Jesse, who seems to know something about the strange goings on, urges Emma to leave town with him, to sell the mysterious coin she found to raise the money, but Emma's heart is with William.
This is a YA paranormal romance novel. I don't, as a rule, like romance novels and I have never read a book about paranormal events. I managed to avoid the recent vampire craze and even Harry Potter. So I wasn't sure how I would feel about The Soul Seekers. But thanks to Amy Saia's skills as a writer, it didn't take me long to accept the fact that William could only be seen by Emma; that he could meet a car head on and it would drive right through him, and so on. Even though it was a very long time ago now, I haven't forgotten how it felt to be seventeen, meet a beautiful boy, and fall in love with a passion. So I could relate to Emma's feelings about William and I'm sure any young girl who reads this book will too. The paranormal events are more of a menacing background throughout the book, than a major part of the story.
But the main reason I loved this book was the pleasure of reading Amy Saia. To begin with, she has written the most astonishingly beautiful opening paragraph, describing Emma's father:
My father was Colorado. He was white, snow-packed ridges, aspen-threaded valleys. He was pine and soft clouds across a pale blue sky. He was granite and crystal rivers and columbine blooming over a hillside. He knew the way of the bear, and how not to get caught on the wrong path after they've come out of their caves in the spring, babies hobbling close. He was the epitome of organic, beautiful earth.
Amy Saia is one of those rare authors, rare to my mind anyway, who can find and express the poetry of the English language. And she certainly knows how to capture the romance of a beautiful and mysterious young boy, named William.
Finally, I must mention that the book's gorgeous cover is designed by Amy Saia. I met Amy, who is an artist, a singer, a writer, and a mother during the 2011 A to Z Challenge. We've kept in touch since then. Check Amy's blog and you will find that the Soul Seekers is free on Kindle today through Thursday.
