A Seahorse Year by Stacey D’Erasmo

Stacey D'Erasmo's acclaimed second novel, her follow-up to the paperback favorite Tea, introduces an unforgettable constellation of characters gripped in the undertow of crisis. When teenager Christopher disappears from his San Francisco home after behaving strangely, his quintessentially modern family comes together in a frantic search for him. It is soon revealed that Christopher is ill schizophrenicand their attempts to support him and to save him will challenge thier assumptions about themselves and one another. Exquisitely crafted, this Lambda Award finalist is a rich, absorbing read that explores the ways in which love moves us to actions that have both redemptive and disastrous consequences, sometimes in the same heartbeat. Andrea Barrett praised the book's many virtues: 'Beautifully plotted, cunningly structured, and richly textured, this gorgeous novel offers rare pleasures of character and plot.'