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The Right Kind of Light
Not yet published
Expected 16 Jun 26Ginny Merchant just graduated from high school. Her best friend refuses to talk to her. And her writer’s block? It’s still going strong, unless she’s writing to the one person who won’t listen.
Since her best friend left, Ginny hasn’t written a word worth keeping. When Ginny is invited to work at Storybook Land, an amusement park with a castle, a carousel, and familiar childhood characters, she takes the chance, optimistic that surrounding herself with children’s stories might help her write again.
But working at Storybook Land isn’t the fairytale Ginny hoped for. She’s still anxious about leaving home in the fall and how chasing her dreams might affect her family. Even after meeting Summer, who sees the world through her camera and lives for adventure, Ginny worries about making the wrong decision.
Then there’s Milo, who works on the park’s maintenance staff and brings Ginny strawberry slushies every day. Milo has his own past that connects with Ginny’s from before this summer. Leaving home is never as simple as it seems, especially when you grow up in a town with its own yellow brick road...
Since her best friend left, Ginny hasn’t written a word worth keeping. When Ginny is invited to work at Storybook Land, an amusement park with a castle, a carousel, and familiar childhood characters, she takes the chance, optimistic that surrounding herself with children’s stories might help her write again.
But working at Storybook Land isn’t the fairytale Ginny hoped for. She’s still anxious about leaving home in the fall and how chasing her dreams might affect her family. Even after meeting Summer, who sees the world through her camera and lives for adventure, Ginny worries about making the wrong decision.
Then there’s Milo, who works on the park’s maintenance staff and brings Ginny strawberry slushies every day. Milo has his own past that connects with Ginny’s from before this summer. Leaving home is never as simple as it seems, especially when you grow up in a town with its own yellow brick road...
Paperback
Expected publication June 16, 2026
About the author
Stephanie Logue
3 books11 followersStephanie Logue writes contemporary fiction and creative nonfiction for girls and women who feel like they never quite fit in. She is the author of Not Without You, a new adult novel about mental health and coping with loss and love in college. Her novella, Yes. Every Single Day. considers what letting go of that first-love-future feels like. Stephanie loves teen dramas with love triangles, pens with ultra-fine tips, and yellow brick roads. Stephanie lives in South Dakota with her family.
Subscribe to Stephanie's popular Substack newsletter The Eldest Daughter Says. Every Sunday morning you'll receive a free creative nonfiction essay featuring the same themes you find in her books: stories about accessible love, recovering from loss, and true girlhood.
Subscribe to Stephanie's popular Substack newsletter The Eldest Daughter Says. Every Sunday morning you'll receive a free creative nonfiction essay featuring the same themes you find in her books: stories about accessible love, recovering from loss, and true girlhood.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
Review of advance copy received from Author
I'm the author of this work, so there's not much more I love more than Ginny and her story.
Yes, it's true that I worked at an amusement park dedicated to our childhood fairytales when I was 18, and then I set this book at that park. But what inspired this book and Ginny's story, right down at its core is this. What hurts the most about growing up, in my experience (from the other side of 40) is that there’s a way the light looks when you’re a kid that fades after you leave home. It used look like magic, now you see right through it. That loss of innocence is what I wanted to capture within the pages of The Right Kind of Light.
But don't kid yourself: there's a cute boy, best friends, yearning, angst, summertime shenanigans and one case of light breaking and entering too. I hope you pick this up, and I hope you enjoy it.
☆ Tropes THE RIGHT KIND OF LIGHT ☆
- girls finding their voices on their terms
- last summer before college
- the trauma of a friendship breakup
- Older YA with big feelings
- sleep over in a dreamy carousel
- the girlhood we deserve
- summer jobs and strawberry slushies and kisses under fireworks in the baseball diamond
- first big love
- nail polish and slushies and sunflowers
- MC writes notes to her ex-bff
- when artists have too much time on their hands
Yes, it's true that I worked at an amusement park dedicated to our childhood fairytales when I was 18, and then I set this book at that park. But what inspired this book and Ginny's story, right down at its core is this. What hurts the most about growing up, in my experience (from the other side of 40) is that there’s a way the light looks when you’re a kid that fades after you leave home. It used look like magic, now you see right through it. That loss of innocence is what I wanted to capture within the pages of The Right Kind of Light.
But don't kid yourself: there's a cute boy, best friends, yearning, angst, summertime shenanigans and one case of light breaking and entering too. I hope you pick this up, and I hope you enjoy it.
☆ Tropes THE RIGHT KIND OF LIGHT ☆
- girls finding their voices on their terms
- last summer before college
- the trauma of a friendship breakup
- Older YA with big feelings
- sleep over in a dreamy carousel
- the girlhood we deserve
- summer jobs and strawberry slushies and kisses under fireworks in the baseball diamond
- first big love
- nail polish and slushies and sunflowers
- MC writes notes to her ex-bff
- when artists have too much time on their hands
May 10, 2026
Thank for you to Stephanie for the ARC! All opinions are my own.
The Right Kind of Light is absolutely beautiful. The vivid imagery, the careful protagonist Ginny who has to be brave enough to walk her own path, and her family and friends, who are the bigger cheerleaders.
I was hooked from the very start, intrigued by the friendship fallout with Lou and then the budding friendship Summer. The girls who both served a different role in Ginny’s life but understand what she needed before she did.
I especially enjoyed Milo. The storyline of falling in love and having a safe, supportive partner, but the bumps that go along with it, because nothing is ever easy. Although strawberry slushies do make it sweeter.
There were some side quests I wish I had learned more about, like Lou’s mom and Shmiditty, but you never really know anyone else's story, and there's a beauty in that as well.
I recommend In The Right Kind of Light and I'll be picking up more books from this author and listening to the soundtrack in the back!
The Right Kind of Light is absolutely beautiful. The vivid imagery, the careful protagonist Ginny who has to be brave enough to walk her own path, and her family and friends, who are the bigger cheerleaders.
I was hooked from the very start, intrigued by the friendship fallout with Lou and then the budding friendship Summer. The girls who both served a different role in Ginny’s life but understand what she needed before she did.
I especially enjoyed Milo. The storyline of falling in love and having a safe, supportive partner, but the bumps that go along with it, because nothing is ever easy. Although strawberry slushies do make it sweeter.
There were some side quests I wish I had learned more about, like Lou’s mom and Shmiditty, but you never really know anyone else's story, and there's a beauty in that as well.
I recommend In The Right Kind of Light and I'll be picking up more books from this author and listening to the soundtrack in the back!
Review of advance copy received from Author
The vision the author had for this story is CRYSTAL clear, and it's rendered so beautifully on the page ♥ I love a story that reminds me of a time in my life when possibilities stretched out in front of me, just waiting for me to make choices, and this one absolutely does that. It is deep without trying at all; no overwrought prose and no forced themes here! It's the kind of writing that helps you view the past in a way that makes you feel hopeful about the future. 1000% would recommend this story.
Review of advance copy received from Author
I really appreciated how this explored the complexity of female friendship alongside the romance. The writing was soft and atmospheric, and the summer setting felt incredibly vivid. Plus, the letters Ginny writes Lou killed me. It's a perfect bookend (literally) to Lou's story in Not Without You, also by Stephanie, where Lou's hearing Ginny's voice the whole time. It's soulmate level stuff. I really enjoyed this. Perfect for a beautiful sunny weekend.
Review of advance copy received from Author
I was eagerly anticipating this read, and it did not disappoint! The book beautifully captures every scene and moment, weaving a heartfelt love story. It explores themes of friendship—both lost and gained—and the courage to embrace new love. The ending is absolutely charming, reminiscent of fairy tales, and offers a touching message about conquering your fears and pursuing your dreams. A must-read!
Review of advance copy received from Author
This is the kind of hazy, nostalgic, coming of age story that is hard to put down. Ginny spends the summer between college and high school grappling with the sudden ending of a childhood friendship, fears about the future, and whether she has what it takes to pursue her ambitions of becoming a writer.
Through a new friendship, an unexpected romance and a summer job that reminds her that fairytales can happen to anyone, Ginny finds that this summer is just the start to her own story.
Through a new friendship, an unexpected romance and a summer job that reminds her that fairytales can happen to anyone, Ginny finds that this summer is just the start to her own story.
Review of advance copy
The women's friendship is the whole thing here, and it’s handled in a way that doesn’t make either person the villain. It’s just two people changing at the same time. There’s no clean reason for it, which is probably the most accurate part. It didn't try to be an after school lesson. It just kind of leaves you with it, but it was still a happy ending. I'd read more from this author.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews