Page-turning mystery intrigues young readers in Harvey

This week Books and Backroads stopped in Harvey, in southwestern New Brunswick,where a group of teens from Harvey High School discussed Bathurst author Kathleen Peacock's 2020 young adult novel, You Were Never Here.

Peacock's mystery centres onMary Catherine (Cat)Montgomery, who returns to her father's hometown, Montgomery Falls, to live with her Aunt Jet. Upon her arrival, she discovers that her once-upon-a-time bestie, Riley Fraser, is missing. His disappearance is just one of the book's mysteries.

The novel features a plus-sizeprotagonist with supernatural abilities, an examination of anxietyand a settingfamiliar to local readers.

Members of the book club agreed that Cat's struggle to accept herself her body and her special abilities was authentic.

"I think at the start of the book Cat was very insecure she kind of evolved and kind of got comfortable in her own body and own skin," said Ana McIntosh.

"I think that we don't have enough plus-size characters, but it was normalized in this book to be plus-sized, which I thought was a very good thing."

Cat's body isn't the only thing that gives her anxiety. She also has a superpower, although that's not necessarily how Elisa Rennick would characterize it.

"I'd call them talents," she said of Cat'sability to know what people are thinking. "I thought they were pretty cool and fun andI mean, in reality, there could be people with that sort of ability."

Wendy Coates compared Cat's abilities to those possessed by the children in Ransom Riggs' novel,Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children,in the way that she had "weird, little genetic talent-ability things."

Rebecca Astle thought Cat's supernatural ability was a great addition to the story.

"They're part of her family and her heritage, and I thought it was pretty cool that she could just touch someone andsee into their minds," she said. "But also it's scary in a way because you could see stuff that you never want tosee."

"I thought that there's a lot of pros and cons to that supernatural ability," she added.

The young readers also felt Peacock's portrayal of anxiety was authentic.

"I've had anxiety and she described it in a very good way, like a veryrealistic way," said Coates. "I definitely think [Cat] overcame her anxietyand her insecurity. And she made friends that would accept her."

Information Morning - Fredericton14:24Books & Backroads in Harvey: You Were Never Here

Our Books and Backroads series heads to Harvey this week, A group of students from Harvey High discuss Kathleen Peacock's novel "You Were Never Here."

Willow Shepherd said You Were Never Hereis a title that "really goes along with the setting of the book" in a small town like hers.

"It felt like New Brunswick," agreed McDonald of the book's setting. "New Brunswick has a lot of historical homes and stuff, and I think Montgomery House was pretty easy to visualize.

"And I also thinkthe entire town going out to look forRiley, I feel like a small place like Harvey, people would do that for sure if we were in the same situation."

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