Another Life

April 15, 2019
Haller’s debut is a fast-moving ensemble story of an emotionally turbulent summer in a small town, where hormonal teenagers attend a close-knit Vacation Bible School at New Life evangelical church. In Grover Falls, N.Y., 15-year-old Laura Swanson has secretly begun an online relationship with a middle-aged man; her best friend, Bethany, has become attached to someone new; and Laura’s divorced mother, April, has been behaving strangely. Meanwhile, the handsome, brooding musician Paul Frazier has returned to town after finishing college. He’s put off by his mother’s unexpected attachment to the New Life Center, but he begrudgingly agrees to work there as the sound mixer for the worship band. The lives of the children and adults intersect in different ways—April has an affair with a younger man, while Laura sets up an in-person meeting with the man she’s been talking to online—in and out of the church, throughout a summer spent discovering secrets of lifelong friends and adjusting to new interlopers. Haller’s engaging story skillfully portrays how different generations grapple with faith, as well as the temptations of substance use and sexual exploration.

May 1, 2019
Haller's debut takes place in sleepy, suburban Grover Falls, New York, and follows the local evangelical church. April, a high-school teacher, runs Vacation Bible School. Her teenage daughter, Laura, wants nothing to do with her, and retreats to her friends. Paul, a twenty-something Grover Falls native, has returned from an alcohol-soaked stint in the city, looking to redeem himself with a job at the church camp. April never expects to fall for Paul, and Paul never expects to bed his twelfth-grade math teacher, but that is exactly what happens. April and Paul keep their affair under wraps, but Laura has secrets of her own?like why her best friend has been spending so much one-on-one time with someone else; and who it is Laura stays up late talking to online. The scandals of the summer eventually come to a head, but all ends up right in the world, with April and Laura moving on from the town altogether. A sweet, fresh look at the growing pains of a conservative church community.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)