Eva and Gabe explore the golden forest of their seaside Maine town,
unknowingly tracing the footsteps of two teens, Evangeline and Gabriel,
who once lived in the idyllic wooded village of Acadia more than one
hundred years ago. On the day that Evangeline and Gabriel were to be
wed, their village was attacked and the two were separated. And now, in
the present, Gabe has mysteriously disappeared from Eva.
A dreamlike, loose retelling of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's famous love
poem Evangeline, Anxious Hearts tells an epic tale of unrequited love
and the hope that true love can be found.
The blustery landscapes and their intimate connection to the characters'
plight are reminiscent . . . of certain scenes spent in seaside forests
by a similarly thwarted vampire/human teen couple. It is [the] power
to evoke both admired historical fiction and hot teen literature that
will prove this novel's success. --School Library Journal
Shaw's creative telling of these dual sagas will keep the reader turning
pages to discover how and when the lives of these characters will
converge. --ALAN Review