Losing June
Losing June
Catherine Sanders Bodnar
In the wild Pacific Northwest, sixteen-year-old introvert James Hart hopes to climb a volcano, maybe meet a girl, and reconnect with his estranged father in Alaska. But the summer takes a dark turn when he finds out that his father has been dead for years. en his 10-year-old sister, June, vanishes from her bunk in the middle of the night, and James pushes himself further than he ever thought he could-or should-to try and get her back. With a heavy conscience, James camps alone on Mount St. Helens in a quest for meaning, a quest that would surely have killed him, but for the ghost wolves. Set in the foothills of Mount St. Helens in the summer of 1959, Losing June is an enlivening historical fiction that follows James on his dangerous journey from boy to man. Drawing from her own past and knowledge of Portland's criminal history in the 50s, Bodnar has created a story that reveals that life is not always a picturesque postcard. is coming-of-age story-inspired by the author's real-life brother-is entwined with a spiritual mysticism that invites its readers to ponder the questions James seeks to answer.
Former travel editor for GOURMET magazine, travel writer for FOOD & WINE magazine, and freelancer for other nationals, Catherine Bodnar is a retired professor from two Vermont colleges with a Ph.D. in American Literature. She completed her first novel this year to be published by Onion River Press in Burlington VT. Her family worked at Harmony Falls Lodge the summer of 1959 at Spirit Lake, WA. Catherine lives with her husband John in Vermont with their beloved dogs, birds and wildlife.
Review Quotes:
“This coming-of-age thriller is part ghost story, part magical realism, and part reality. Every character has a secret. With a beautifully picturesque setting, James is tasked with finding his sister and manages to find himself as well.” -Terry Persun, Author of The Right Thing
“A novel that bridges categories, Losing June is both a meditation on nature and a page-turning thriller. The teenage boy at the tale’s center comes to see the frailities, the darkness and the shining points of his family and friends as he searches for his kidnapped sister under the shadow of Washington’s Mt. St Helen’s. In keeping with the thriller genre, Bodnar writes a crisp no-nonsense prose which belies a penetrating analysis. Keep the lights on when you finish the book: Bodnar’s descriptive details reveal a mind intimately in touch with nature and its benign indifference. A coming-of-age novel for any age.” -Tony Whedon, Drunk in the Woods
“It’s not easy to capture so many different personalities in one book, but Catherine Sanders Bodnar introduces her readers to a collection of compelling characters, all struggling to find resolution to their difficult histories at the same time. And at the foot of a dead volcano whose future is also, surprisingly unresolved. Her tour-de-force character is a child, June, whose voice and personality draw us in and hold us captive too (excuse the spoiler). Even the characters, like Kay, who are difficult for our hero James, to interact with, attracts our interest. Watching James overcome his own demond is heartening, and, in the end Bodnar succeeds in having us pulling for all the good guys in the his book. With so many characters, that’s no easy feat.” -Susan Brown, PhD
“Hanging on the edge of disaster a young hero discovers what his life’s journey is all about, with the aid of a pack of “Spirit Wolves” of course. The author’s fluid writing style finds its métier using the unbounded world of magical realism. Indeed, I found myself transported to a timeless world where wolves—the perennial shapeshifters of Native American lore—once again reign among the ancient forests of the Pacific Northwest.” -Chris Monaco, The Second Seminole War and the Limits of American Aggression, 2018
“What first appeared to be a garden variety coming-of-age yarn took a ‘didn’t-see-that-coming” turn, and I could not help but finish Losing June in one sitting. A true page-turner, Bodnar’s prose struck deep chords of my youth, conjuring long-sunk bodies from the deep as well as forgotten joys and dreams known only to the young. Skillfully woven and textured, Losing June pierced layers of personal narrative, forcing me out of my comfort zone to a place of eventual acceptance, forgiveness. What more can one ask of a first novel? More of this please.” -Josef Woodman