The Floating Girls by Lo Patrick The Floating Girls is stunning southern fiction, a wonderfully atmospheric coming-of-age family drama told from the perspective of a feisty 12-year-old girl―reminiscent of a modern-day Scout Finch―as she unravels the secrets that threaten her entire family.

Kay thought she knew everything there was to know about her family and their marsh life. But that was before the new neighbors arrived and her parents became suspects in a murder and a kidnapping.
One hot, sticky summer in Bledsoe, Georgia, twelve-year-old Kay Whitaker stumbles across a stilt house in a neighboring marsh and upon Andy Webber, a boy about her age. He and his father have recently moved back to Georgia from California, and rumors of the suspicious drowning death of Andy’s mother years earlier have chased them there and back.

At once wickedly funny and heartbreaking, it is an immersive coming-of-age story narrated by a feisty, smart, yet undeniably vulnerable girl reminiscent of a modern-day Scout Finch―a character who will live in readers’ hearts for a long time to come. (goodreads.com).

Sounds like a book I’d like to read. Unfortunately, this book gets only three stars. It began well enough. The characters are mostly well-written, but along the way, the premise becomes darker and more confusing. The setting is repetitive. Maybe because I’ve always lived in the South, I didn’t need to be continually reminded about the humidity, mosquitoes, heat that is ever present here.

The complicated and confusing story lacks some elements of believability, especially in regard to decisions made by the authorities. Ultimately, I made it through – only to be disappointed by an unsatisfying ending. Not my favorite.

However, since this was the author’s first book, I would be willing to take a chance on another book by Lo Patrick if that becomes an option.