Days of Daisies
by Teja Rhae Watson
On sale December 22, 2025
Oakland, California. 2013.
Anna and Phoenix are solid. Phoenix is about to start kindergarten at the Oakland public school where Anna teaches. Though she’s only working there to land him a coveted spot, and can’t remember the last time she was in a relationship, Anna’s commitment to solo parenting has never flagged.
Then, in a Berkeley creative writing course, Anna meets Sam, a local tattoo artist and skateboarder who blogs about gender-queer identity. As Phoenix learns to read and write, he starts his own writing project: a journal that documents his rich inner life.
Anna and Sam fall in love, and soon the three are a happy family. Everything is perfect—until Anna starts experiencing debilitating migraines and seizures. She is diagnosed with a brain tumor, and given just six months to live.
In order to focus on quality over quantity in their last precious weeks, Anna decides to keep the news from Sam and Phoenix. Meanwhile, Sam agrees to adopt Phoenix, without knowing about Anna’s illness.
When Anna learns about Death with Dignity—Oregon’s physician-assisted suicide for the terminally ill—Sam, and Phoenix travel to Portland for the summer, so Anna will have the option of ending her life on her own terms. But as her symptoms worsen, Anna’s attempts to hide them grow more challenging.
In her final days, Anna starts writing a new version of their story, a way for her to live on with them. She would have liked for it to be longer, but in the end, their time together amounted to mere days….
Selected advance praise:
“A nuanced exploration of a modern queer family, from all three perspectives.”
“Lush and vibrant.”
