Mary Lanham has always felt different from her peers… maybe that’s why she has such a crush on Aiden, a boy others think of as a loser, but who is confident and comfortable in his own skin.
Maybe that’s why she is so easily swayed by the one girl who offers her friendship, too, and so thankful for the companionship Kristen provides — and the sense of normalcy, too. They may not have much in common, but it’s better to have a tenuous friendship than to be alone. With no mother and a father who seems impossibly old, Mary feels alone much too often.
Ordinary feelings for a teenage girl so far, but then Mary begins to see strange things. Who is the man in the gray cloak? How does he disappear so completely? When she starts to doubt her own sanity, her father tells her the remarkable story of who she really is, who the strangers — the Lookers — are, and what Mary’s true purpose in life must be.
A rare and remarkable gem, an unexpected evil, and an opportunity to learn about her true nature all come to Mary in the course of this coming-of-age fantasy. For young adults, with strong male and female characters.