Nhung and her mother are barely hanging on in the environmental disaster zone that is Mercy, Louisiana. After her father and brother died and the red algae bloomed in the Mississippi River, survival becomes even more difficult.
Will Chambers is the only “round kid” in a school full of thin ones. He hides behind oversized hoodies and avoids the cafeteria, struggling with shame and self-doubt. When a cruel comment in fourth grade triggers years of pain, Will begins to spiral, using food restriction to cope.
When you’re named after a 250-year-old tortoise, you grow up believing life is full of possibilities and wonder. But ever since Addie’s family got turned upside down, those things have been harder for her to see.
Kindra Neely never expected it to happen to her. No one does. Sure, she’d sometimes been close to gun violence, like when the house down the street from her childhood home in Texas was targeted in a drive-by shooting. But now she lived in Oregon, where she spent her time swimming in rivers with friends or attending classes at the bucolic Umpqua Community College.
A boy fading away, one skipped meal at a time. Louder Than Hunger is raw, real, and unforgettable—a verse novel that will grip your heart and not let go.