Barbery, Muriel

Two girls from France and Italy who possess uncanny respective abilities to communicate with nature and perform music at a preternatural level come into contact with magical and malevolent forces before meeting each other in world-changing ways.

Ren?e, a secretly cultured concierge at an elegant apartment building in the middle of Paris, meets Paloma, an intelligent twelve-year-old who behaves like a mediocre pre-teen until a wealthy Japanese man arrives at the building, causing Paloma and Ren?e to recognize each other's secrets.