'Saddest Girl on the Beach' highlights personal struggle amid hurricanes | Book Talk

The story in “The Saddest Girl on the Beach” is bookended by hurricanes about nine months apart.

Billed as a companion novel to Zanesville native Heather Frese’s “The Baddest Girl on the Planet,” “Saddest” follows Charlotte, who leaves college after her father’s death and flees to the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Her longtime best friend Evie lives there with her family, where they run a seasonal inn.

Soon after Charlotte arrives, Evie tells her that she is pregnant by her unworthy boyfriend. Evie says that Stephen is “okay with the baby.”

Hurricane Isabel arrives, placing the story in 2003, and with it, Evie experiences pain that requires a daring trip through high water.

Charlotte spends time with two men: Each is kind, generous and thoughtful. One is Evie’s brother Nate, who loves Charlotte. Charlotte does not love him; instead she loves Michael, who is doing graduate research on tides and global warming. Charlotte and Michael exchange philosophical texts that reveal their deep compatibility, but he isn’t interested in her romantically; he’s the fiancé of Charlotte’s beloved and perfect cousin.

Charlotte’s love life doesn’t overshadow her grief for her father and her pushing back against Evie’s hard-nosed insistence on marrying Stephen despite his failings. Charlotte’s history of self-harm is barely mentioned.

When Charlotte’s family comes from Ashtabula County to scatter her father’s ashes, she must decide where she belongs and with whom.

The Outer Banks and barrier islands are as much a part of the story as the characters, and the descriptions of the hurricanes are brief but vivid.

“The Saddest Girl on the Beach” (280 pages, hardcover) costs $26.95 from Blair, an imprint of Carolina Wren Press.

Heather Frese will sign “The Saddest Girl on the Beach” at 7 p.m. at the Strongsville branch of Cuyahoga County Public Library. Register at cuyahogalibrary.org.

How to get your book into a library

You know authors are happy when you buy their books. Did you know authors are happy when you borrow their books from libraries? “The Author’s Guide to Libraries” by librarian Cari Dubiel is a useful tool for writers who want to get their books into the hands of readers.

Getting books onto library and bookstore shelves can be challenging for major publishers with publicity departments and press agents, let alone authors of independent and self-published books. The author of a well-reviewed memoir from a major university press posted July 7 on X, formerly Twitter, about being “brushed off” by a bookstore when she inquired about their carrying her book. The post went viral, with other authors reporting the same treatment. The memoirist followed up with, “Seriously no one tells you this about publishing your book…there’s still so much rejection.”

Libraries must consider budget, quality, relevance and demand before adding books to their collection. Even free books cost the library money. In a chapter called “How Do the Books Get There? Collection Development,” Dubiel explains the policies involved in acquisition, weeding shelves and how local authors can approach libraries about adding their books.

There often are forms to be completed and appointments to be made; simply approaching a random busy librarian is rarely successful. Signings, author fairs and launch parties have strict rules. Dubiel surveyed two dozen librarians and library staff members about their procedures and the wide variety of practices is enlightening.

Dubiel offers some tips on things not to do: Don’t pester librarians, don’t be demanding, don’t be impatient.

“The Author’s Guide to Libraries” (112 pages, softcover) costs $9.99 from online retailers. Cari Dubiel’s other books include the story collection “All the Lonely People.” She lives in Stow.

Events

Loganberry Books (13015 Larchmere Boulevard, Shaker Heights): Kyle Robinson signs his memoir “Wandering Spark,” 1 p.m. Sunday. At 1 p.m. Saturday, Whitney Parnell-Williams reads from her storybook, “It’s OK to Be Sleepy.”

Fireside Books (29 North Franklin Street, Chagrin Falls): Katherine Kerestman (“Creepy Cat’s Macabre Travels”) signs her books, 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday.

Cuyahoga County Public Library (South Euclid-Lyndhurst branch, 1876 South Green Road, South Euclid): Wanda Morris signs her thriller “What You Leave Behind,” 7 to 8 p.m. Monday. Register at cuyahogalibrary.org.

Cuyahoga County Public Library: Max Brallier talks about “The Last Kids on Earth,” now an animated Netflix series, in a virtual event from 2 to 3 p.m. Tuesday. From noon to 1 p.m. Thursday, Irish writer Alan Murrin discusses “The Coast Road” in a Zoom event. Register at cuyahogalibrary.org.

Akron-Summit County Public Library (Highland Square branch, 807 West Market Street): Historian Sharon Moreland Myers discusses “Akron Neighborhoods: Old and New,” 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. Register at akronlibrary.org.

Cuyahoga County Public Library (Beachwood branch, 25501 Shaker Boulevard): Case Western Reserve University professor Marilyn Sanders Mobley talks about “Toni Morrison and the Geopoetics of Place, Race, and Be/Longing,” 7 to 8 p.m. Tuesday. Register at cuyahogalibrary.org.

Stark County Public Library (715 Market Avenue North, Canton): Lindsay Bonilla reads from her children’s book “The Storyteller,” 3 to 4 p.m. Wednesday. Registration required at starklibrary.org.

Cleveland Public Library: Novelist Juliet Grames joins the Writers Unplugged series to talk about “The Lost Boy of Santa Chionia,” 7 p.m. Thursday. Register at cpl.org.

Cleveland Heights-University Heights Public Library (Coventry Village branch, 1925 Coventry Road, Cleveland Heights): Poets Miles Budimir (“Licorice Heart”), Steve Goldberg (“Tremont Crawl”), Jason Harris (“Light Enters the Grove: Exploring Cuyahoga Valley National Park through Poetry”) and Kevin Latimer (“Zoetrope”) read from their work, 7 to 8 p.m. Thursday.

Barnes & Noble (4015 Medina Road): Youngstown novelist Nancy Christie signs “Finding Fran,” second in her Midlife Moxie series, 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday.

Barnes & Noble (28801 Chagrin Boulevard, Woodmere): Noah St. John of North Canton discusses “The 7-Figure Machine: Your Ultimate Roadmap to Endless Earnings and Financial Freedom, 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday.

Email information about books of local interest, and event notices at least two weeks in advance to gmail.com and 8. I tweet at @BarbaraMcI.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Hurricanes and heartache in 'Saddest Girl on the Beach' | Book Talk