When Devils Sing

Gr 9 Up–In Carrion, GA, where folks are born “one toe closer to hell than everyone else,” it’s an open secret that demons hunt the most desperate, looking to bargain. Unlike their privileged neighbors in Lake Clearwater, Carrion residents tend to turn up dead or missing, misfortune often coinciding with the eruption of a massive cicada brood every 13 years. Against a bleak setting of suffocating humidity, piercing cicada screams, and extreme wealth disparity, four teens connected by the disappearance of a classmate navigate dire life circumstances and unravel a sinister town secret. Sam, the daughter of a ruthless hitman employed by the most powerful family in Lake Clearwater, accepts a demonic bargain when her younger brother is mortally wounded in a tragic hit-and-run. The narrative is then carried forward by Sam; Neera, the daughter of British-Punjabi immigrants; Reid, the son of Lake Clearwater’s founding family; and Isaiah, a true-crime podcaster and son of a prominent judge. Kaur adeptly gives voice to these four unique characters with different roots, all struggling to grow in toxic soil. Her stark depiction of the deep south and the grim inevitability of tragedy in Clearwater delivers a tense, engrossing reading experience that starts out strong but concludes quickly with several narrative strands left dangling. Sam and Reid are both white while Isaiah is Black and Neera has a blended is mixed. Sam and Neera are both queer and share an attraction that develops into a brief romance.