Holloway
Will be published approx. on 18. June 2026
Book
Hardback
352 pages
978-0-06-299088-4 (ISBN)
Description
"Elana K. Arnold paints prose like a master. A fascinating journey through time, love, and forgiveness." - A.S. King, Printz Award-winning author of Dig
Award-winning author Elana K. Arnold returns with a boldly visionary, deeply felt story that crosses space and time to examine loss and love in a world on the brink.
It is the late summer of 2021, and a girl named Nora is on the Paris Metro.
Nora, whose mother loved her, even though Nora was broken.
Nora, who couldn't help her mother when her mother needed her most.
Nora, from whom the pandemic has taken nearly everything, save the object she clings to: a cylinder containing her mother's ashes.
With no family left, no friends to speak of, and no way to turn back time, Nora has come to France to keep a promise she never got to make: to spread the ashes in a place her mother never got to see. But instead, Nora finds herself on the run through a forest in the night, taking refuge in a dark holloway. And when she wakes, and tries to make her way back to something she recognizes, she realizes that is impossible.
Because it is no longer 2021.
Questioning everything-including her own sanity-Nora sets out on a journey through a time and place completely foreign to her, and yet one that, much like the time and place she came from, is defined by death, loss, fear, and uncertainty. A journey in which she must find a way to honor her mother-and heal herself-in a world that feels irrevocably broken.
Award-winning author Elana K. Arnold returns with a boldly visionary, deeply felt story that crosses space and time to examine loss and love in a world on the brink.
It is the late summer of 2021, and a girl named Nora is on the Paris Metro.
Nora, whose mother loved her, even though Nora was broken.
Nora, who couldn't help her mother when her mother needed her most.
Nora, from whom the pandemic has taken nearly everything, save the object she clings to: a cylinder containing her mother's ashes.
With no family left, no friends to speak of, and no way to turn back time, Nora has come to France to keep a promise she never got to make: to spread the ashes in a place her mother never got to see. But instead, Nora finds herself on the run through a forest in the night, taking refuge in a dark holloway. And when she wakes, and tries to make her way back to something she recognizes, she realizes that is impossible.
Because it is no longer 2021.
Questioning everything-including her own sanity-Nora sets out on a journey through a time and place completely foreign to her, and yet one that, much like the time and place she came from, is defined by death, loss, fear, and uncertainty. A journey in which she must find a way to honor her mother-and heal herself-in a world that feels irrevocably broken.
Reviews / Votes
Beautifully written and deeply introspective, the novel build[s] a profound and moving portrait of generational trauma, and the ways love can both wound and heal. A poignant meditation on what it means to feel understood. - Kirkus Reviews (starred review)Award-winning Arnold truly puts her prose prowess and grasp of complex topics on display in this story. Nora's characterization is incredibly powerful, capturing the nuances of an autistic experience. What's even more impressive is Arnold's ability to bring humanity to the complexity of the pandemic and anti-vax parents without diminishing the harm caused. A must purchase. - Booklist (starred review)
This ambitious novel anchor[s] the reader in Nora's distinct voice for an examination of the intersection between individual and societal trauma. A bittersweet reminder that healing is still something to work for. - Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (starred review)
Holloway is a symphony, a museum-an homage to art and what feeds it. Elana K. Arnold paints prose like a master, every word in place. Nora's story is a fascinating journey through time, love, and forgiveness. - A.S. King, Michael L. Printz Award-winning author of Dig
"Arnold successfully renders Nora's sensory and intellectual overload through the protagonist's lyrical reflections on perception, the societal connections between post-Covid pandemic and post-WWII eras, and the making of art as essential and eternal. Posing thought-provoking questions about time, love, and relationships, it's an ambitious and immersive portrait of one neurodivergent teen's experience." - Publishers Weekly
After her anti-vax mother dies of COVID-19, Nora travels from the U.S. to France to scatter her ashes. Such a brief synopsis, however, does little to convey the convolutions, ponderings, and emotional force of this novel. - Horn Book
Praise for The Blood Years "This book is many things: an examination of love and duty, a revelatory account of a Holocaust experience many won't know, and a wrenching coming-of-age story. A moving glimpse into a past that is an all-too-possible vision of our future." - Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"Arnold confronts tough subjects via unflinching depictions of war and compassionate renderings of intense familial drama. Searing." - Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Arnold's gripping novel of sisterhood and survival amid both -Soviet and Nazi occupation illuminates a little-explored part of the Holocaust in -Romania. A must-read." - School Library Journal (starred review)
"Extraordinary. This beautifully written novel juxtaposes passages of transcendent insight with terrible loss. An excellent choice for readers of Monica Hesse and Ruta Sepetys, and a first purchase for all teen collections." - Booklist (starred review)
"Arnold's compelling and well-researched narrative is deeply personal, respectful, and redemptive; through story, she bears witness. Her depiction of Rieke's experiences allows readers to truly feel how the horrors of war give the character many reasons to hate as well as to discover her enormous capacity to love." - Horn Book (starred review)
"Each page of this extra-or-di-nary sto-ry teems with nerve-tin-gling, edge-of-your-seat anx-i-ety. A riv-et-ing addi-tion to the Holocaust-lit-er-a-ture canon." - Jewish Book Council
"The Blood Years gives us tragically underrepresented history viewed through a lens of love. Devastating and beautiful." - Ruta Sepetys, New York Times-bestselling author of I Must Betray You
"Ferocious and delicate, brilliant and emotional, The Blood Years is a finely wrought portrait of love and betrayal and what it costs to survive the unimaginable." - Nina LaCour, Michael L. Printz Award-winning author of We Are Okay
"Once you meet Reike, you won't ever forget her. Elana K. Arnold entwines history irresistibly with fiction to tell a story of great magnitude and emotional impact, centered on the bravery of a Jewish teenager in Nazi-occupied Romania and on universally human questions of romantic love, moral compromise and family loyalty." - E. Lockhart, New York Times-bestselling author of We Were Liars
"A captivating, harrowing, uplifting story of a Romanian-Jewish teenager's struggle not just to survive but also to live. By the time you reach the final page, each person in Rieke's family will feel like a member of your own. Emotionally stirring and ethically complex, this is Elana K. Arnold's finest work to date." - Dashka Slater, Stonewall Book Award-winning author of The 57 Bus
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Publishing group
HarperCollins Publishers Inc
Target group
Young adult
US School Grade: Ninth Grade and over, Interest Age: From 14 to 99 years
Dimensions
Height: 217 mm
Width: 150 mm
Thickness: 32 mm
Weight
401 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-06-299088-4 (9780062990884)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Person
Elana K. Arnold is the award-winning author of many books for children and teens, including the Sydney Taylor and National Jewish Book Award winner The Blood Years, the Printz Honor winner Damsel, the National Book Award finalist What Girls Are Made Of, and the Global Read Aloud selection A Boy Called Bat. She lives in Long Beach, California, with her husband, two children, and a menagerie of animals. You can find her online at elanakarnold.com.