West Haven native, Kyla LoPresti, has just published her first book, Flashback. While the author has her own unique personal story to tell about how this book came to be, this “uniqueness” should not obscure the fact that Flashback is a very good novel.
Isabelle Violet Halloway is not your average teen-ager. While Isabelle has all the problems that almost every other teen-ager has, she has one very unique problem: she has lived before. Amid fragmented flashbacks of her previous family and life; the reemergence of her past-life boy friend (and true love) into her present life; and a personal tragedy, Isabelle must learn as much as she can about her life in 1800s New England because, if Isabelle is to survive her current life, she must solve the biggest mystery of all: who murdered her.
LoPresti is a natural-born story-teller at a time when there seem to be few practitioners of this art. It could be our era of blogging and texting and Pinterest have made us lose the ability to simply tell a good story. In Flashback, LoPresti proves herself to be a generous story-teller, giving readers a feast of goodies: a glimpse of 19th Century American history, budding romances, family secrets, vampires and danger. And, to top it off, a not-expected twist at the end of the story that ties up all the loose ends.
And she does all this with great control of her craft and a brisk clear writing style that exudes confidence.
LoPresiti, who is working on the sequel, completed Flashback last year, when she was 12. An avid reader, LoPresti set her goal, at 11, to publish her own book by 13; the result of this promise fulfilled, is a fine book and the expectation that her next book will be even better.
Kyla herself is a great story. A young girl who sets a goal and stays up late night after night to make sure she keeps a promise to herself. That alone is a great – not often told – story whether your 12 or 90. But LoPresti’s great personal story should not obscure the fact that she is, with this book, first and foremost an author.
Kyla LoPresti will be at Collected Stories Bookstores August 4th from 12 to 2. Meet Kyla and pick up a copy of Flashback.
