I got this ex-library hardcover from a local Savers thrift shop. Set in 1970s New York City, it unfolds from the viewpoint of a 13-year-old boy whose parents have split up, and who is trying to juggle his own needs and wants with his disintegrating family. His father turns out to be fascinated by the city's gargoyles and other building ornaments - terra cotta images, statues - which he has taken to gleaning from dump sites and, as the story progresses, outright stealing from buildings that may not even be slated for destruction. He gets his son involved, as an agile 13-year-old can get into places an adult cannot, and the story includes some pretty riveting and hair-raising sequences of skulking through half-ruined buildings or clinging to the edges several stories above the ground. (I'm a huge fan of gargoyles myself, and enjoyed the descriptions of the many bits of architectural art - and could sympathize with the father's desire to save and preserve it, though he did go a bit too far in his increasingly obsessive search.)

The coming-of-age arc features some pretty dark situations, and yet plays out as something of a love song to the city...

I left this book in the Little Free Library (delightfully designed to match the Victorian-gothic funeral home that hosts it); hope someone enjoys it!

[See other recent releases in NH here.]

** Released for the 2022 Spook-tacular challenge. ***