Praise for Invincible Summers
“INVINCIBLE SUMMERS is a gorgeous meditation on history and family, innocence and experience. Gaines has created an unforgettable character in Claudia, but by following her through eleven years of her life, she shows us how each one of us is many characters throughout a single lifetime. This is the kind of reading experience for which literature was invented.”—Laura Kasischke, author of The Life Before Her Eyes, Suspicious River, and White Bird in a Blizzard.
“As the chapters progress through two tumultuous decades, they show how parents fumble their own children, how siblings abandon one another, and how people become itinerant and self-destructive. This is no simplistic tale of self-discovery, nor is it a dirge. It is, in Claudia’s own words, a restless search for nowhere fueled by moments of whimsy, humor, and hope.”—John Mauk, author of The Rest of Us and Field Notes for the Earthbound.
Awards & Press
2018
Invincible Summers Runner Up–Florida Book Festival: General Fiction
Invincible Summers Honorable Mention Awards
London Book Festival
2017
Invincible Summers Honorable Mention Awards
Los Angeles Book Festival • Paris Book Festival • Amsterdam Book Festival • New York Book Festival • Beach Book Festival
Additional Press
Story Circle Book Reviews by B. Lynn Goodwin, August 25, 2016
Interview with the Detroit Free Press, August 14, 2016
“New Pages” Review by Denise Hill, August 2,2016
Interview with Shelf Pleasure, July 22, 2016
Oakland Press Interview with Molly Winder, July 20, 2016
Interview with Leslie Pietrzyk at Work-in-Progress , June 20, 2016