Whose Beauty is Past Change

An "engaging modern-day fairy tale." -Kirkus Reviews

For advanced middle-grade and YA readers, Whose Beauty is Past Change is may tell the story of a young girl who journeys through beautiful distractions to reach a fantastic undersea realm from which she may never return. Or it may tell the story of a grieving poet imagining a beautiful life for a daughter lost to the sea. Or perhaps, both.

At sunset in Key West, twelve-year-old Lissa falls into the gulf of Mexico and is swept out along a golden path. Using her knowledge of art and poetry (learned from her parents), she navigates past the beautiful entanglements and curious guardians of the reef.

Finally she arrives in the realm of Kwest, where all are devoted to creating each sunrise and sunset. There, after proving herself, Lissa is offered a choice: to return to her old life or stay and become a painter of sunsets.

Poets quote in the book include E. E. Cummings, Emily Dickinson, Percy Bysshe Shelley, William Wordsworth, Ralph Waldo Emerson, William Blake, Wallace Stevens, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and John Keats.

The book is dedicated to the author's mother, who read to him as a child, and is intended to provide a story that will challenge young readers and inspire young artists.

Note: This book was previously published under the title Painting Sunsets.