Return to Sender

DEBUT Violet, still grieving the death of her father, feels as if she is failing her 14-year-old sister Phoebe after becoming her guardian and moving with her to Boston. The sisters’ new apartment was supposed to be the place where she and her boyfriend started their engaged life together, until he bailed. When a “return to sender” letter arrives at their apartment, Phoebe makes it her mission to reunite the love letter with its writer. She tracks down the author, Dex, who works not far from their apartment at a center for at-risk LGBTQIA+ teens. His dour and terse demeanor does not deter Phoebe from encouraging him to deliver the letter to its intended recipient, but Dex reveals that the woman now lives across the country in Oregon. Violet will do everything she can to keep Phoebe happy, and soon they are all on a cross-country road trip to hand-deliver the letter, which brings Violet and Dex closer than they expected. Themes of grief and acceptance, as well as the slow-burn, longing attraction between Violet and Dex, propel the story.