magic realist fiction

Twelve-year-old Lexington, a foundling raised in a zoo, spends a summer cementing friendships, growing closer to the elephant that saved her life, and learning about her family and herself.

A floundering second-generation teenager growing up in the Bush-era Atlanta suburbs, Neil Narayan is authentic, funny, and smart. He just doesn't share the same drive as everyone around him. His perfect older sister is headed to Duke. His parents' expectations for him are just as high. He tries to want this version of success, but mostly, Neil just wants his neighbor across the cul-de-sac, Anita Dayal. But Anita has a secret: she and her mother Anjali have been brewing an ancient alchemical potion from stolen gold that harnesses the ambition of the jewelry's original owner. Anjali's own mother in Bombay didn't waste the precious potion on her daughter, favoring her sons instead. Anita, on the other hand, just needs a little boost to get into Harvard. But when Neil - who needs a whole lot more - joins in the plot, events spiral into a tragedy that rips their community apart. Ten years later, Neil is an oft-stoned Berkeley history grad student studying the California gold rush. His high school cohort has migrated to Silicon Valley, where he reunites with Anita and resurrects their old habit of gold theft - only now, the stakes are higher. Anita's mother is in trouble, and only gold can save her. Anita and Neil must pull off one last heist.

"The Montoyas know better than to ask why the pantry never seems to run low or empty, or why their matriarch won't ever leave their home in Four Rivers, even for graduations, weddings, or baptisms. When Orqu?dea Divina invites them to her funeral and to collect their inheritance, they hope to learn the secrets that she has held onto so tightly their whole lives. Instead Orqu?dea is transformed, leaving them with more questions than answers. Seven years later, her gifts have manifested in different ways for Marimar, Rey, and Tatinelly's daughter, Rhiannon, granting them unexpected blessings. But a hidden figure begins to tear through their family tree, picking them off one by one as it seeks to destroy Orqu?dea's line. The four descendants travel to Ecuador--to the place where Orqu?dea buried her secrets and broken promises and never looked back"--OCLC.

"Using the lyrical magic realism style of classical Persian storytelling, Azar draws the reader deep into the heart of a family caught in the maelstrom of post-revolutionary chaos and brutality that sweeps across an ancient land and its people"--Publisher.

"Soon-to-be twelve-year-old June is a planner and a problem-solver, and right now she and her friend Calvin are planning a big welcome home celebration for her mother, only her plan falls apart when she finds out that her parents are getting a divorce; June is convinced that she can find some way to get her parents back together--until she starts getting messages on her 'new' laptop (refurbished by a mysterious store called The Shop of Last Resort), messages from JuniePie28 who claims to be her future self, warning her not to interfere in her parent's marriage"--Provided by publisher.

"Inspired by the author's . . . experiences, this . . . novel follows sixth grade Egyptian immigrant Nadia as she navigates the ups and downs of friendships, racism, and some magic, too! Nadia loves fun facts. Here are a few about her: she collects bobbleheads--she has 77 so far ; she moved from Egypt to America when she was six years old ; the hippo amulet she wears is ancient--as in it's literally from ancient Egypt ; [and] she's going to win the contest to design a new exhibit at the local museum. Because how cool would that be?! (Okay, so that last one isn't a fact just yet, but Nadia has plans to make it one.) But then a new kid shows up and teases Nadia about her Egyptian heritage. It's totally unexpected, and totally throws her off her game. And something else happens that Nadia can't explain: Her amulet starts glowing! She soon discovers that the hippo is holding a hilarious--and helpful--secret. Can she use it to confront the new kid and win the contest?.

"The Greek goddess Aphrodite recounts two tales of tragic love during WWI to her husband, Hephaestus, and her lover, Ares, in a luxe Manhattan hotel room at the height of World War II. She seeks to answer the age-old question: 'Why are Love and War eternally drawn to one another?' but her quest for a conclusion that will satisfy her jealous husband uncovers a multi-threaded tale of prejudice, trauma, and music revealing that War is no match for the power of Love"--OCLC.

"Emmeline lives on a remote island with her father, who teaches her about the natural world through her senses. What he won't explain are the mysterious scents stored in the drawers that line the walls of their cabin, or the origin of the machine that creates them. One day the unforeseen happens, and Emmeline is vaulted out into the real world-- a place of love, betrayal, ambition, and revenge. To understand her past, Emmeline must unlock the clues to her identity, a quest that challenges the limits of her heart and imagination"--Adapted from dust jacket.

"The Greek goddess Aphrodite recounts two tales of tragic love during WWI to her husband, Hephaestus, and her lover, Ares, in a luxe Manhattan hotel room at the height of World War II. She seeks to answer the age-old question: 'Why are Love and War eternally drawn to one another?' but her quest for a conclusion that will satisfy her jealous husband uncovers a multi-threaded tale of prejudice, trauma, and music revealing that War is no match for the power of Love"--OCLC.

"In the pages of her notebook, soon after her father is diagnosed with cancer, Jade invents an imaginary best friend she can depend on--Zoe; but when Zoe somehow magically shows up in real life, Jade wonders how genuine their friendship can possibly be if Jade's controlling Zoe through what she writes in her notebook"--Provided by publisher.