Half-Moon Scar

In Allison Green's edgy novel Half Moon Scar, three childhood friends reunite as adults to confront their painful pasts and heal each other's emotional and physical wounds.

Amy, a lesbian academic, returns to her small Midwestern hometown of Willow Bay, Wisconsin after years away. She discovers that her old friends Gina and Gavin have learned to cope with their pasts in extreme ways that rival her own tendency toward self-mutilation. As Amy fears for Gavin's life, grappling with his anorexia, she becomes increasingly bewildered by Gina's detached behavior.

With past and present colliding, the reunion forces all three to examine the shame and guilt they experienced as gay adolescents. Amy must reconcile her tense family relationships, long-standing attraction to Gina, and past romantic experimentation with Gavin. Together, they confront the visible and invisible scars that pervade their still-unresolved lives in this raw exploration of queer identity, mental illness, and the lingering impact of adolescent trauma.