Girls Made of Snow and Glass

In Bashardoust’s debut, a richly written rethinking of Snow White, Princess Lynet and her stepmother, Queen Mina, fight the fates imposed by their fathers. When Mina was small, her sorcerer father, Gregory, replaced her failing heart with a glass one. Gregory claims that without a heartbeat, Mina is unlovable; to disprove him, she marries the widowed King Nicholas and earns the adoration of a kingdom. Her reign as queen is only temporary, though: when Nicholas’s daughter, Lynet, turns 16, Nicholas grants her rule over Mina’s territory. Lynet ponders declining the power transfer, but then overhears Mina plotting against her. Further complicating matters is Lynet’s discovery that she wasn’t born but was conjured from snow in the late Queen Emilia’s image at her father’s request, leading a horrified Lynet to flee the castle. A romantic subplot involving Lynet and a young surgeon named Nadia adds further drama and tension as Bashardoust thoughtfully reflects on the complicated nature of the stepdaughter/stepmother relationship while exploring agency, individuality, love, and free will. Ages 12–up. Agent: Meredith Kaffel Simonoff, DeFiore and Company. (Sept.)