Boy in the Blue Hammock

Darren Groth’s epic story “Boy in the Blue Hammock” is about disability and assumption, disobedience and devastation, loss and loyalty. The novel takes place in the small Pacific Northwest town of Gilder during a period of isolation and scarcity, and it is dominated by an absolute-power regressive dictatorship. Kasper a fifteen-year-old with limited speech and cerebral difficulties, miraculously escapes his family’s murder.

His only friends are a blue hammock that hangs from his bedroom ceiling and Tao, a former service dog who is now a family pet. In search of shelter and sanctuary, they set out on a tour through Gilder’s devastated streets together. This book may be the best-kept literary secret of 2022.