If you are looking for your next summer read, then look no further. Where The Crawdads Sing is full of emotions and adventure while written in a fierce and beautiful way. 

Where The Crawdads Sing is a captivating fiction novel that twists and turns through abandonment, love, heartbreak, betrayal, and murder. Published in August of 2018, Delia Owens illustrates a tale of a young girl raised in the marsh of North Carolina in the 1950s. Abandoned by her entire family, Kya Clark learns how to fend for herself in her family’s isolated shack. Learning how to fish and collect mussels, she is able to trade for boat fuel and made enough money to sustain herself for quite some time. 

After a few chapters, Kya finds herself intertwined with another boy she frequently sees in the marsh, Tate Walker. 

Tate, being a few years older than Kya, takes her under his wing to help her learn to read and write in order to better record and organize her findings in the marsh. Collecting feathers, butterflies, and everything in between quickly became a purpose Kya gave herself while holding her own. 

No small town is prevalent without its gossip, and Barkley Cove is no exception. Labeling Kya as “the marsh girl” and “swamp trash,” she grew up living in fear of going to town and was outcast from social groups of children her age. 

Following a doomed love story between Kya and town hunk Chase Andrews, he is found dead and Kya is the number one suspect of his murder.