

The Strangest of Places
A plus-sized heroine.
A long-shot love story.
A soundtrack of Phish jams and Gen X mixtapes.
Autumn MacLeod has always been the sidekick, never the headliner. At eighteen, she’s smart, sarcastic, and tired of letting her weight—and her working poor upbringing—define her. When a spur-of-the-moment trip to a 1995 Phish show introduces her to John Walker, a fellow music geek with a mischievous smile and an encyclopedic musical mind, Autumn hears the first chord of a life she actually wants.
Their long-distance romance is as electric as any guitar solo until John ghosts her without warning. Was she just an easily forgotten opening act to him?
Devastated but determined, Autumn digs into the real reasons she keeps the world at arm’s length and those reasons trace back to her work-worn single mom who’s rarely home, a father who vanished years ago, and a lifetime of being an inconvenient afterthought. As she social isolation for bootleg tapes via AOL’s Phish Bowl chat room, Autumn realizes that staying safe in the back row means never stepping into her own spotlight.
When John resurfaces months later begging for a second chance, Autumn faces the biggest decision of her life: Will she keep guarding her heart behind familiar riffs or risk an encore that could break it wide open?
Perfect for readers who love...
-- Music-drenched fiction like "Daisy Jones & The Six" or "High Fidelity"
-- Flawed heroines and authentic ‘90s nostalgia
-- The found-family vibe of jamband parking lots and endless road trips
With each chapter named with a song featuring lyrics associated to its contents, The Strangest of Places provides a playlist that will leave you humming until the next book in the series is released in 2026.
For more information, including trigger warnings, visit https://www.chriscampbellauthor.com and check out The Rabbit Hole (blog).
——Quotes
“A moving coming-of-age anthem that will resonate with anyone who’s ever found themselves in the warm glow of stage lights, friendship, and first love. ”
“Spunky, honest, and vulnerable, its heroine, Autumn MacLeod, stands in a long tradition of alienated American teenagers telling us the truth of things. Huck Finn and Holden Caulfield would have loved this book. You will, too.”
- 291 pages
- Paperback
- 6in × 9in
- Black & White
- 979-889832348-6