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Cat About Town by Cate Conte and Amy Melissa Bentley (Narrator)
Chocolat by Joanne Harris
Common Bonds edited by Claudie Arseneault
A Deadly Edition by Victoria Gilbert
Death Al Dente by Leslie Budewitz
The Ghost and the Dead Deb by Alice Kimberly
Gideon Falls, Volume 5: Wicked Worlds by Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino (Illustrator)
How to Lie with Maps by Mark Monmonier
I Am Not Starfire by Mariko Tamaki and Yoshi Yoshitani (Illustrator)
Lips Unsealed by Belinda Carlisle
Mighty Jack and Zita the Spacegirl by Ben Hatke
Murder 101 by Lynn Cahoon
A Pairing to Die for by Kate Lansing
Punching the Air by Ibi Zoboi
Robogenesis by Daniel H. Wilson
A Separate Peace by John Knowles
Signspotting III: Lost and Loster in Translation by Doug Lansky
Sleight of Paw by Sofie Kelly
Smash It! by Francina Simone
State of the Onion by Julie Hyzy
Swordheart by T. Kingfisher
Tea & Treachery by Vicki Delany
The Tea Dragon Society by Kay O'Neill
This Coven Won't Break by Isabel Sterling
Toured to Death by Hy Conrad
Turtle in Paradise: The Graphic Novel by Jennifer L. Holm and Savanna Ganucheau
Two Wicked Desserts by Lynn Cahoon
The Walled Flower by Lorraine Bartlett
Well Met by Jen DeLuca
Well Played by Jen DeLuca
The Wild Ones by Nafiza Azad

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Wild Ones: 08/28/21

Wild Ones by Nafiza Azad

The Wild Ones by Nafiza Azad is a YA urban fantasy about women saving women and in the process, saving the world. It begins with Paheli, a girl betrayed by her mother who wants nothing more than to study. Given the chance, she runs, and collides with a boy with stars in his eyes, just before a door opens and takes her to the Between.

Paheli is one of the first Wild Ones — women who travel between cities via doors that open in the Between. The Between is like a conduit to the Other Side, but also works as its own network of paths. It's also the only way the Wild Ones can travel the world as they are tied to the cities. Besides the Wild Ones who were once human and are now immortal as long as they keep the stars in their palms, there are Not-Humans who live in the cities and trade in magic.

But it's mostly the Wild Ones who drive this beautiful, poetic novel. It's how they parley their pain into strength that gives The Wild Ones a Wonder Egg Priority vibe. Around the world there are different stories of crying women as vengeful spirits; the Wild Ones are in good company.

Together, though, they have to save the world's magic supply. Just as there are greedy human men, so are there among the magical ones. One in particular is going after the boy with the stars in his eyes. Their desire to help him and take down an abuser is part of what gives this novel the Wonder Egg Priority feel. It's also what puts the book on the Road Narrative Spectrum.

Paheli and the other women have vowed to protect and help girls and women. They've also agreed to help the boy and they are going against monsters (literal and figurative); thus the travelers are in a scarecrow/minotaur dichotomy (99). Their destination is the city to confront the man trying to take all the world's magic (00). Their route is the labyrinth (99) because their journey is a transformative one; a physical one, an emotional one, and a spiritual one.

Five stars

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