• 17. Crossing the Threshold Cover
      by testsuphomeAdmin Crossing the Threshold takes a profound turn in 1960 as Kya, the solitary young woman of the marsh, faces a moment of crisis. When Jumpin’ informs her that Social Services has been inquiring about her, Kya is overwhelmed by the fear of being separated from the only world she knows. The authorities’ questions about her father, her education, and her frequent visits to Jumpin’s wharf shake her to the core. Living in isolation for so long, she is suddenly confronted with the very real possibility of…
    • Chapter

      16. Reading

      16. Reading Cover
      by testsuphomeAdmin Reading Chapter 16 dives deeper into Kya’s internal struggles and the growing isolation she feels in the swamp. After Tate, her mentor, halts their reading lessons, Kya's emotional turmoil intensifies as she realizes how much she depended on his company. Feeling the sting of loneliness more acutely, she seeks a connection outside of her usual solitude and visits Jumpin' and Mabel in Colored Town, a rare excursion where she brings homemade blackberry jam as a gesture of gratitude. However, her trip…
    • Chapter

      15. The Game

      15. The Game Cover
      by testsuphomeAdmin The Game in Chapter 15, set in 1960, is a turning point for Kya, as she begins to experience the emotional turbulence of connecting with others. Known as the Marsh Girl, she has spent most of her life isolated, living alone in the swamp, abandoned by her family. The chapter begins with Kya's quiet engagement in a game of anonymous gift exchange with a mysterious boy, marking the start of a delicate, tentative bond. She finds herself strangely comforted by this simple game—an exchange of items like…
    • 12. Pennies and Grits Cover
      by testsuphomeAdmin In Chapter 16, titled "Pennies and Grits," set in 1956, Kya Clark’s world is one of isolation, grief, and an overwhelming desire for connection. Abandoned by her family, Kya spends her days in the marshlands, alone except for the company of nature. Her sense of longing for human companionship drives her to seek out Tate, a boy who had once helped her navigate the marsh three years prior. Despite spotting him fishing one day, Kya hesitates to approach him, torn between the pull of wanting companionship…
    • 11. Croker Sacks Full Cover
      by testsuphomeAdmin Croker sacks full of grits were all that Kya had left in 1956, a bitter symbol of her struggle to survive alone after her abusive father, Pa, stopped returning to their decaying shack in the marshes. At just ten years old, Kya was now fully responsible for her own survival, facing the reality of complete isolation in the untamed wilderness. As days turned into weeks, and weeks into months, she braced herself for the reality that her father’s departure might mean the permanent absence of both parents,…
    • Chapter

      1. Ma

      1. Ma Cover
      by testsuphomeAdmin Ma's departure in the summer of 1952 was a turning point for six-year-old Kya Clark, a moment etched into the quiet, stifling heat of the North Carolina marshlands. The air, thick with humidity, seemed to press down upon the land, as if nature itself shared in the weight of Kya's loss. Her mother, dressed in her only pair of good shoes and carrying a blue train case, walked away from the shack without a word, leaving Kya to watch her vanish into the horizon. The sense of abandonment that Kya experienced in…
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