Primal Animals: A Novel

Description

Protect the girls Arlee Gold is anxious about spending the summer at the college prep Camp Rockaway-the same camp her mother attended years ago, which her mother insists will help give Arlee a "fresh start" after her struggles the past year; that it will "change her life." Little does Arlee know that once she steps foot on the manicured grounds, this will prove to be true in horrifying ways. Even though the girls in her cabin are awesome-and she's developing a major crush on the girl who sleeps in the bunk above her-the other campers seem to be wary of Arlee, unwilling to talk to her or be near her, which only ramps up her paranoia. When she's tapped to join a strange secret society, Arlee thinks this will be her shot at fitting in...until her new "sisters" ask her to do the unthinkable, putting her life, and the life of her new crush, in perilous danger.

JULIA LYNN RUBIN received her MFA in Writing for Children & Young Adults from The New School in 2017. A lover of film, psychology, and literature, Julia has been writing creatively since first grade, and her short stories have appeared in publications such as the North American Review. She currently lives in Brooklyn, where she is freelancing while working on her next book. Julia is the author of Burro Hills and Trouble Girls.

Buzzfeed, New LGBTQIA+ YA Novels You Need This Spring "Primal Animals is a relentless thrill ride, offering a summer camp with danger at every turn, staggering twists, and a deeply human heroine." --Courtney Gould, author of The Dead and the Dark "Bold, fresh, remorseless, Primal Animals will sink its teeth into your throat on the first page and hang tight until the devastating finish." --Hannah Capin, author of Golden Boys Beware "Like a queer version of the Wicker Man, a wonderfully-creepy mystery set under sunshine and fresh air, where nothing is what it seems and no one is what you expect. Keep your eyes open, watch your back, and beware of the flies." --Emma Berquist, author of Missing, Presumed Dead "A spine-tingling descent into the darkness of the mind, Primal Animals is terrifying and beautiful in all the best ways." --Sophie Gonzales, author of Only Mostly Devastated and Perfect on Paper "Raw and unnerving, Primal Animals gets under your skin and doesn't let you go until the very last page." --Laurie Devore, author of How to Break a Boy and A Better Bad Idea Rubin shatters the heteronormative boundaries of the horror genre and creates an eerie and unsettling atmosphere of taboos without room for any bigoted notions about race, gender, class, or sexuality. - INTO Not for the faint of heart, Rubin crafts a tense horror story where the deepest terror lies in the truths it reveals about whose lives hold value and how far those with power will go to protect themselves. --Bulletin for the Center of Children's Books "Wonderfully creepy.... A consistently unsettling, atmospheric read." --Publishers Weekly "Low-level suspense gives way to clear horror.... [A] chilling revelation...proves sufficiently terrifying." --Kirkus "A disturbing psychological horror for readers who like to savor a gripping yet slow-burning, sinister story, and who don't shy away from the gruesome." - School Library Journal