Miracle Season by Beth Hautala

Miracle Season by Beth Hautala is a beautiful, warmhearted novel about a girl named Persephone Pearl Clark who lives in Coulter, Wisconsin. Persephone, just like her name suggests, has the power to make plants grow. However, after her brother, Levi’s, near-death experience that put him in a coma, Persephone has started to lie more and more to all the people around her. The lies are neccesary. The only thing to keep her parents from finding out something that they would surely disapprove of, she has a solution that could fix everything: entering her hometown in the hit television show, Small Town Revival. But, even if Persephone doesn’t notice, the flowers that she once made bloom are now wilting.

This isn’t the only thing that’s happening to Persephone. She blames her once-best friend’s brother for the whole incident and won’t even acknowledge her anymore. Yet very quickly, she meets a quirky, rich, old lady called Mrs. McCullacutty that could change everything.

Mrs. McCullacutty agrees to let Persephone use her overgrown backyard and turn it into a community garden. However, Mrs. McCullacutty doesn’t understand Persephone’s true reasons to redo her yard. Persephone intends to use it as her big project in the show. She employs the help of her newfound friendship with a boy named Malachi and they work hard to perfect the garden together. Sadly, Persephone isn’t entirely truthful with Malachi either, after making a deal with Malachi’s grandfather, and all her lies turn into one big monster that eats up her family’s and friends’ trust in her. And to regain their trust, Persephone must learn to believe the truth herself before she can tell it.

I really enjoyed this novel because of the way the book really flowed together. There wasn’t a single useless detail that didn’t add to the story. And all the metaphors and similes were really intertwined with the book and it’s plot. The character’s emotions were presented flawlessly, including Levi’s characteristics, even though he was in a coma. There isn’t much about Persephone’s magical powers, which I was a little disappointed about, but otherwise, the novel was a terrific read.