The Faraway Inn, by Sarah Beth Durst (Delacorte Press)
The Faraway Inn is a wonderful example of a story that is aimed at Young Adult readers but has much wider appeal. Yes, the viewpoint character, Calisa, is sixteen, but her situation and emotional growth are have universal appeal. Following an angst-ridden breakup with her boyfriend, she embarks upon a summer at her great-aunt’s B&B in rural Vermont. Instead of the idyllic summer-of-forgetting she expected, she finds a dilapidated, almost empty husk. one door after another is slammed in her face, sometimes literally and always without explanation. Auntie Zee is not only colossally grumpy and anti-welcoming but seems determined to send Calisa packing. Calisa, however, is anything but a helpless victim. She rolls up her sleeves, partners with Jack, the son of the (mysteriously absent) groundskeeper, and embarks upon a campaign of cleaning, tidying, and serving afternoon tea, complete with cake. Soon, she’s also investigating doors that lead to other worlds, when they don’t open capriciously to closets. Just as she gets a clue what is going on, the magical gates begin to fail…stranding Jack’s father in limbo.
Although this is a stand-alone unrelated to Durst’s “Spellshot” series, it shares many of the same elements: a young protagonist with agency, a complex system of magical worlds shaded with romance, danger, and longing.
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