Lifeling

Starred review from February 28, 2022
With a premise that asks big questions about the value of an individual life, Applebaum’s (The Middler) earnestly told novel conveys messages of love, loyalty, and sacrifice. Twelve-year-old Lonny Quicke is a lifeling—a person who can revive dying animals and people, in exchange for a shortened existence. To protect him from the powerful, potentially lethal pull of dying humans, Lonny’s white-presenting family—his cantankerous grandfather, worried widower father, and younger brother Midge—remain near their secluded forest home, relying on the little money Lonny’s father makes fixing watches. But when food becomes scarce for the family, Lonny and Midge risk going into nearby Farstoke to earn money. Watching preparations for an annual festival that celebrates the mythology of lifelings’ sacrifices upends the siblings’ understanding of Lonny’s power and puts the boy on a path to possible disclosure and difficult decisions about responsibility. Applebaum builds tension from the start, describing the “buzzing” Lonny feels when a nearby creature is dying, detailing Farstoke’s obsession with lifelings, and building toward a message that balances hope and reality, while developing a believable narrator with deep bonds and longing. Ages 8–12. Agent: Nancy Miles, Miles Stott.