Michael Thomas Ford is the author of numerous works for both adults and young readers, including Suicide Notes as well as some of the earliest books about the HIV/AIDS crisis and several books about the LGBTQ community. A five-time winner of the Lambda Literary Award, he has also been a finalist for the Shirley Jackson Award, the Bram Stoker Award, the Firecracker Alternative Book Award, and the Ignyte Award. He lives in rural Appalachia with his husband and dogs.
<p>"“I’m pretty sure I’m the only guy in my school who can replace a faulty kick-down switch and also create the perfect smoky eye.”</p><p>The Weyward family has been haunted by a curse for generations—if a Weyward falls in love before their seventeenth birthday, the person they love dies.</p><p>Sam doesn’t plan to fall for anyone in the weeks before his birthday. He’ll spend his time working at the Eezy-Freeze with his dad; cooking up some midsummer magic with his grandmother, great-grandmother, and great-great-grandmother (the Grands); and experimenting with drag with the help of the queens at the Shangri-La, the local gay club.</p><p>But when a new guy comes to town, Sam finds himself in trouble when they strike up a friendship that might be way more than that.</p><p>As Sam’s birthday approaches and he still hasn’t quite fallen in love, the curse seems to get more powerful and less specific about who it targets.</p><p>A mysterious girl Sam talks to on the phone late at night and a woman he’s only seen in a dream might have the answers he’s been looking for—but time is running out to save the people he cares about."</p>
