The Hum of the Sun (Paperback)

On the side of the road, two boys are walking, holding hands. The smaller, barefoot one does not speak. The words are there in Zuko’s head but they are stuck somewhere between his thoughts and his mouth. He sees patterns, though, all around him – in the clouds, the stones, the arch of the sun. He hums the sun’s sound, his fingers painting pathways in the air. Some say he is cursed, others believe he is magical.

To Ash, Zuko is his little brother, all he has left in the world. He has not heard of autism. The older boy is a teenager who has seen more than most his age. Ash stood beside their mother when she buried their sister. Then, when his mother also succumbed to illness, he dug her grave alone. Now he is leading his brother to the city to find their father.

As the two traverse the land, they are forced to eat what they find and sleep under the stars. And Ash keeps wondering: Will their father know them? Will he take them in?