The Matthew Fish collection is a collection of 4 full length novels that all share common themes. Book 1 A Window in the Earth It's the summer of 1993. After the death of their parents at the hands of a drunk driver, city-dwelling teenage brothers Christopher and James Janes are sent to live with their widowed grandfather in the remote Ozarks of Missouri. There, the brothers must learn to cope with the drastic turn their lives have taken and the unfamiliarity of their surroundings, as well as their grief. By some stroke of fate, there is one other person their age in the area: a girl named Kylie. She tells the brothers of a local mystery about a girl who disappeared one day in a nearby ancient cave used by Native Americans, and the three spend their summer together exploring it, eventually finding that there is still a bit of magic left in a world that seems bereaved of hope. Book 2 Fireflies In Winter Celia Bones is a girl existing in two different moments in time. In 1983, she is enjoying summertime and the meeting of a new friend. In 2001, Celia has been diagnosed with Glioblastoma Multiforme, a form of cancer, and is haunted by dreams of a future that she may not live to see. Fireflies in Winter is the story of how there is nothing more tragic than the passage of time, and how time can change the way we look at the world around us. Book 3 Softland Matthew Catt is a young man tormented by many irrational fears. On his way to attend a funeral hundreds of miles from home, he is stricken with a crippling panic attack that causes the ground beneath him to swallow him whole. Matthew finds himself in a dark new world where his fears manifest into creatures. As he attempts to make his way home, he finds that maybe the worst thing in life, is to remain afraid. Book 4 Softland 2 Amber Lump is a girl who feels completely out of place in our world. Stranded alone for days in her home because of a seemingly never-ending blizzard, she is forced to venture out into the storm to find her only remaining family, a grandfather who treats her like both a slave and a burden. When she arrives at the gas station that her grandfather runs, she finds no trace of him, only a cryptic note that leads her once again out into the deadly cold in a last-ditch effort to find him. At her weakest moment, with the cold threatening to overtake her, she discovers the impossible: a patch of green grass and flowers, growing untouched amidst the harsh elements. However, she finds no peace here; instead a looming shadow beneath her feet drags her down to the Abyss, where she may find a chance for a new life.