Hot Season

Susan DeFreitas pens an intricate story in Hot Season, effortlessly blending two divergent themes: eco-terrorism and coming of age. Set on a college campus, Hot Season explores the uncertain, subtle social cues of twentysomething students just beginning to stretch into their own personalities. Their longing to connect with each other is palpable, and the search for some meaning in their young lives is heartbreaking. DeFreitas's characters are flawed and they know it, and watching them try to navigate the adult world for the first time feels familiar and satisfying. Add in the sometimes superficial, sometimes urgent draw toward social justice and climate awareness, and you have characters with real depth. Steeped in a slow-boil sensuality and the wide-eyed innocence of the young, but also with the suspicion of the status quo, this examination of current climate fears is a must-read. Recommended By Dianah H., Powells.com

In the tinder-dry Southwest, three roommates — students at Deep Canyon College, known for its radical politics — are looking for love, adventure, and the promise of a bigger life that led them West.

But when the FBI comes to town in pursuit of an alum wanted for "politically motivated crimes of property," rumor has it that undercover agents are enrolled in classes, making the college dating scene just a bit more sketchy than usual.

Katie, an incoming freshman, will discover a passion for activism that will put her future in jeopardy; Jenna, in her second semester, will find herself seduced by deception; and Rell, a senior, will discover her voice, her calling, and love where she least expects it.

"A beautiful book that asks the crucial question, is it worse to destroy a dam or to destroy a river? Which is to say, how do we live our conscience on a crowded, corrupted planet?" Monica Drake, author of The Stud Book

"Hot Season, Susan DeFreitas’s finely wrought debut novel, explores the charged terrain where the youthful search for identity meets environmental activism and the romantic, illicit lure of direct action. A compelling book." Cari Luna, Oregon Book Award winner, author of The Revolution of Every Day

"DeFreitas oscillates between elegant description and coarse dialog, between cool river grove shade and damning desert sunshine. From the unforgiving arid land that baked it, Hot Season prospers in the heat." Snow Day

Susan DeFreitas’s fiction, nonfiction, and poetry have appeared in The Utne Reader, Southwestern American Literature, The Nervous Breakdown, Story Magazine, and Fourth River, among other publications. DeFreitas lived in the high country of central Arizona, where Hot Season is set, for fourteen years, and covered topics related to the environment and green technology until 2009, when she moved to the Pacific Northwest. Melanie Bishop, writing for Huffington Post Books, called her "a spokesperson for our times."

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