Funny How Things Change [Hardcover]

Remy Walker has it all: he found the love of his life at home in crumbling little Dwyer, West Virginia, deep in his beloved Appalachian Mountains where his family settled more than one hundred and sixty years ago. But at seventeen, you're not supposed to already be where you want to be, right? You've got a whole world to make your way through, and you start by leaving your dead-end town. Like his girlfriend, Lisa. Lisa's going away to college. If Remy goes with her, it would be the start of everything they ever dreamed of. So when a fascinating young artist from out of state shows Remy his home through new eyes, why is he suddenly questioning his future?

The author vividly depicts a rich and beautiful place in this powerful novel about a young man who, over the course of a summer, learns how much he has to give up for a girl, and how much he needs to give up for a mountain.

MELISSA WYATT fell in love with the landscape of Appalachia on trips home with her husband, whose family is from West Virginia. She lives in York, Pennsylvania.

Wyatt's prose is tautly evocative throughout; her plot is a welcome departure from the stale conventions of the hero's journey. Starred, Kirkus Reviews

Good writing drives stellar characterization of this strong but introspective protagonist struggling with his own version of the universal questions of who he is and what matters most . . . . Kinship with Remy will come easily to readers facing similar decisions about growing up and leaving home. School Library Journal

Beautifully spare language portrays the quiet story of a good guy. VOYA

Readers will identify with Remy and his feeling of being torn between a comfortable past and uncertain future. Booklist

This timeless drama of a teen trying to make the right decision about his future is credibly set against timely issues about bad local economies based on unsustainable mining practices, making for a lˆ