Synopses & Reviews
Set against the backdrop of The Wizard of Oz, this tale is both a chilling story of abuse and a timeless romance. Sixteen-year-old good girl Dorothy just blew into the small town of Highland Park—where the social headquarters is Munchkinland (Dunkin’ Donuts.) There, she meets Joey—a bad boy who tells no one about the catastrophic domestic violence he witnesses at home. Can these two lovers survive peer pressure, Joey’s reputation, and his alcoholism? And then there’s his family secret which is about to be unleashed. Joey’s words are scattered on the page—reflecting his broken state. Dorothy is the voice of reason—until something so shattering happens that she, too, may lose her grip. Can their love endure, or will it melt away? Drawing from true events, this brutal love story will hit like a punch in the face and is sure to reach into the soul of every reader.
Review
“A fresh, emotionally complex bildungsroman of young American love that looks long and hard at violence, and at what can overcome it.” —Kirkus Reviews
Review
"Poignant, moving, and riveting, the narrative switches seamlessly between both of their perspectives, capturing the angst of adolescence and young adulthood, while handling a heavy thematic element with incredible verisimilitude.” —IndieReader
Review
"[Selene Castrovilla] is a writer to watch." —Jacqueline Woodson, author, Brown Girl Dreaming
Review
“Raw, lyrical, and darkly humorous—and uncompromisingly honest—Selene Castrovilla’s work is poetry and prose combined to the utmost. This is a writer to watch out for.” —Daniel Ehrenhaft, author, The Last Dog on Earth
Review
“Melt is evocative, emotional, vivid, and powerful. Beautiful, painful, and ultimately healing, Melt is a gripping read that will make you feel and care about the characters.” —Cheryl Rainfield, author, Scars
Synopsis
Fifteen-year-old Alice Montgomery wakes up in the lobby of the B&B where she has been vacationing with her family to a startling discovery: no one can see or hear her. The cheap desk lights have been replaced with gas lamps and the linoleum floor with hardwood and rich Oriental carpeting. Someone has replaced the artwork with eerie paintings of Elizabeth Blackwell, the insane actress and rumored witch who killed herself at the hotel in the 1880s. Alice watches from behind the looking glass where she is haunted by Elizabeth Blackwell. Trapped in the 19th-century version of the hotel, Alice must figure out a way to break Elizabeths curse—with the help of Elizabeth's old diary and Tony, the son of a ghost hunter who is investigating the haunted B&B—before she becomes the inn's next victim.
About the Author
Jessica Arnold is a writer who, when given the opportunity, will pontificate at length on the virtues of the serial comma, when and where to use an en-dash, and why the semicolon is the best punctuation mark pretty much ever. She lives in Boston.