Indian Summer by Kellyn McClarry

 

A writing friend’s novel came out on Indigenous Peoples Day (October 11, 2021) and immediately hit #1 bestseller rankings on Amazon for Children’s Time Travel and Children’s Colonial Historical Fiction!  So proud of her!  Here is the blurb I provided for her novel. Click the cover photo to check it out on Amazon!:

In Kellyn McClarry’s Indian Summer, an ordinary boy of the 1970s spirals back to a time of Quakers and Native Americans near his Pennsylvania hometown. Struck with amnesia, he resides with a generous, hard-working Quaker family who are baffled by his strange ways. Meanwhile, he gets to know a small, peaceful Conestoga tribe, then is struck with horror at the atrocities committed against them.

With infinite patience, McClarry lulls readers into assuming Indian Summer is simpler than it really is. This holds true for both the plot line and for the character of Jack. McClarry’s timing is diabolically impeccable—revealing plot twists and new depth to characters only after readers have entirely convinced themselves of the story’s trajectory. Don’t underestimate this debut novel. Kellyn McClarry cloaks a brilliant wit in the guise of this story about a seemingly hapless, helpless, impatient, utterly ordinary boy. McClarry revels in how very ordinary he is, though, liking him quite well that way, I suspect. But McClarry’s inspirational streak does eventually come through, shining all the more for the timing of it all.