Jackson is the only person who can save the world from rapidly rising waters—if he can stop drowning in his own cycle of grief.

For fans of John Green and Jandy Nelson, a heart-wrenching, hilarious, and surreal YA debut about grief, love, and moving forward.

All anyone in Takini, Michigan, wants to talk about is the rapidly rising tides of Lake Michigan. No one has any idea why it’s happening or how to fix it, but water levels around the world keep climbing at an alarming rate, threatening to drown every coastal town on earth. Including Takini.

But sixteen-year-old Jackson couldn’t care less. Ever since his dad’s unexpected death at the hands of Jackson’s classmate Edward Malcolm, Jackson’s had a hard time caring about anything. His dad is gone. Edward is missing. What does anything matter? 

When Edward reappears, claiming he knows how to stop the flood, Jackson suddenly has no choice but to care—because Edward may have also found a way for Jackson to see his dad again. But Jackson doesn’t want to just see his dad. He wants to bring his dad back, no matter how many times he has to try.

As the two set off on a journey across Lake Michigan, the concepts of time and death start to lose their meaning and the waters continue to rise. With the end of the world in front of him, Jackson will have to decide what’s more important: the people who need him right now, or the loss that’s literally drowning him.

Heart-wrenching, hilarious, and redemptive, The Day the World Drowned takes readers on a surreal journey through the apocalypse of grief, showing there is life on the other side.