Lobizona (Wolves of No World #1)

Sixteen-year-old Manu has spent her whole life in hiding; even as her period substantially changes her body each month, she cannot visit the doctor. She and her mother are undocumented immigrants from Argentina, though Manu has no memory of her early childhood there. Fearing deportation, they stick within the area around their Miami apartment complex, and Manu keeps her strange eyes covered—eyes that she inherited from her late father, once part of a powerful criminal organization. When the elderly woman they live with is sent to the hospital with a head injury and ICE takes Manu’s mother into custody, it is suspected that Manu’s father’s family is behind it all. Alone for the first time in her life, the girl embarks on a journey that leads her to a secret magical society of werewolves and witches straight out of the folklore she grew up on. In a timely work of magical realism featuring references to Borges and Garcia Márquez, Garber (the Zodiac series) tackles issues of nationalism, identity, and belonging. Armed with love for her family and from her new friends, Manu’s quest for belonging empowers her transformation from a girl in hiding to the symbol of a movement. This layered novel blends languages and cultures to create a narrative that celebrates perseverance. Ages 12–up. [em]Agent: Laura Rennert, Andrea Brown Literary. (Aug) [/em]