{"product_id":"the-bright-afters-sadie-mccarney-9781770418523","title":"The Bright Afters","description":"\u003cb\u003eA genre-bending, heartbreaking book-length lyric poem about a gay teenager's stabbing in a rural town \u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWhen a gay teenager is mercilessly stabbed in a high school bathroom in West Nowhere, Nova Scotia, the surrounding community is sent into a tailspin. While Colton fights for his life in a hospital room at West Nowhere General, everyone from a school janitor to the boy's abusive stepfather overflows with emotion in the form of verse monologues, unburdening themselves of their feelings. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Bright Afters\u003c\/i\u003e is a poetic container for the pain endured by the town and surrounding area -- and sometimes, their confessions. The voices we hear from include the sympathetic (a favorite teacher) and the arresting (the kid who stabbed Colton). As Colton recovers, his powder keg sister Christine and his escapist best friend, Annie, have the most to lose from the act that almost killed him -- and the most to gain from coming to a new understanding about the senseless violence. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eTold from a variety of perspectives, \u003ci\u003eThe Bright Afters \u003c\/i\u003eseeks to interrogate collective and individual trauma, queer belonging, and the ways in which a place sculpts the people it produces. Its individual poems take their names from Broadway shows, containing all of the community's fraught hope for a positive \"big finish\" to the story.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Sadie McCarney\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1770418520\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781770418523\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Misfit Book\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 04\/14\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 80\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.14lbs","brand":"Sadie McCarney","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":48440561565951,"sku":"9781770418523","price":24.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_ed3da879-2055-418d-9bf9-6d0a0675f522.jpg?v=1777183260","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-bright-afters-sadie-mccarney-9781770418523","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}