Once Was Lost

National Book Award finalist Sara Zarr examines a teen girl's feelings of abandonment in the face of her parents' separation and her obsession with a local girl who has gone missing.

From the author of Sweethearts and the National Book Award finalist Story of a Girl comes a story about a local tragedy and a personal tragedy paralleling in the eyes of a fifteen year old girl.

Samara Taylor used to believe in miracles. She used to believe in a lot of things. As a pastor's kid, it's hard not to buy in to the idea of the perfect family, a loving God, and amazing grace but lately, Sam has a lot of reason to doubt. Her mother is in rehab after a DUI and her father seems more interested in his congregation than his family. When a young girl in her small town is kidnapped, the local tragedy overlaps Sam's personal one and the already worn thread of faith holding her together begins to unravel.

In her 3rd novel, Zarr examines the coexistence of affliction and hope and what happens when everything you thought you believed - about God, your family and yourself - is transformed.