Losing June

Summary

Each carefully chosen detail teleports the reader to 1959 Harmony Falls Lodge, 10 cabins nestled against the reclusive Spirit Lake. Breathe in the music, scents, and setting of a secluded and once magical world as you join James at Mt. St Helens.

“A novel that bridges categories, “Losing June” is both a meditation on nature and a page-turning thriller.The teenage boy at the tale’s center comes to see the frailties, the darkness and the shining points of his family and friends as he searches for his kidnapped sister under the shadow of  Washington’s Mt. St Helen’s. In keeping with the thriller genre, Bodnar writes crisp no-nonsense prose which belies a penetrating analysis. Keep the lights on when you finish the book: Bodnar’s descriptive details reveal a mind intimately in touch with nature and its benign indifference."

Tony Whedon, Drunk in the Woods

"What first appeared to be a garden variety coming of age yarn took a "didn't-see-that-coming" turn, and I could not help but finish Losing June at one sitting. A true page-turner, Bodnar's prose struck deep chords of my youth, conjuring long-sunk bodies from the deep as well as forgotten joys and dreams known only to the young. Skillfully woven and textured, Losing June pierced layers of personal narrative, forcing me out of my comfort zone to a place of eventual acceptance, forgiveness. What more can one ask of a first novel? More of this please!"

Josef Woodman, Patients Beyond Borders

"Hanging on the edge of disaster a young hero discovers what his life’s journey is all about, with the aid of a pack of “Spirit Wolves” of course. The author’s fluid writing style finds its métier using the unbounded world of magical realism. Indeed, I found myself transported to a timeless world where wolves—the perennial shape-shifters of Native American lore—once again reign among the ancient forests of the Pacific Northwest."

- Chris Monaco, The Second Seminole War & the Limits of American Aggression