The Smell of Other People’s Houses

A stunning debut YA about growing up in Alaska, which isn’t like growing up anywhere else. The rules: Don’t think that life is going to be easy. Know your place. And never talk about yourself.

Four vivid voices, native and white, tell their intertwining stories of hardship, tragedy, wild luck, and salvation in 1970s Alaska. Ruth misses her father, killed long ago in a plane crash; now, at 16, she has a secret that she can’t hide forever. Dora’s luck changes dramatically when she escapes her own parents to move in with her best friend’s family. Alyce loves working with her Dad on his fishing boat. He needs her help, but she also longs to be a dancer, and this summer brings a hard choice. Hank and his brothers have stowed away on a ferry to escape their mom’s boyfriend, a trip that will put one of them in terrible danger.