The Smell of Other People's Houses by Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock

I'll be honest.  When I first started The Smell of Other People's Houses, I didn't think I was going to like it.  I had heard good things about it and it was a finalist for the Morris Award (given to the best debut YA novel), so I was excited to read it.  After the first 25 pages or so I was not too excited about it.  But I kept reading and I am very glad I did.

This beautiful story is told through 4 different narrators, each having their own individual story.  These worlds eventually collide and as it all comes together, it will leave you wanting more. 

This was one of those books that I would often times catch myself smiling at, excited about how the book was working and happy for the incredible characters that Hitchcock developed during the story.  

From Amazon:

“Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock’s Alaska is beautiful and wholly unfamiliar…. A thrilling, arresting debut.” —Gayle Forman, New York Times bestselling author of If I Stay and I Was Here

“[A] singular debut. . . .  [Hitchcock] weav[es] the alternating voices of four young people into a seamless and continually surprising story of risk, love, redemption, catastrophe, and sacrifice.” —The Wall Street Journal

This deeply moving and authentic debut set in 1970s Alaska is for fans of Rainbow Rowell, Louise Erdrich, Sherman Alexie, and Benjamin Alire Saenz. Intertwining stories of love, tragedy, wild luck, and salvation on the edge of America’s Last Frontier introduce a writer of rare talent.

Ruth has a secret that she can’t hide forever. Dora wonders if she can ever truly escape where she comes from, even when good luck strikes. Alyce is trying to reconcile her desire to dance, with the life she’s always known on her family’s fishing boat. Hank and his brothers decide it’s safer to run away than to stay home—until one of them ends up in terrible danger.

Four very different lives are about to become entangled. This unforgettable William C. Morris Award finalist is about people who try to save each other—and how sometimes, when they least expect it, they succeed.