A Girl’s Guide to Love & Magic

A Haitian American teenager unlocks her vodou power in this joyful romance by Rigaud (Simone Breaks All the Rules). Cicely Destin is excited to celebrate her 15th birthday, which falls on the same weekend as Brooklyn’s West Indian Day Parade. At the event, her mother’s estranged vodouista sister, Tati Mimose, invites Cicely and her best friend, Renee, to meet Papash, the girls’ favorite rapper, whom Tati Mimose is interviewing for her podcast. Everything about the outing is planned to the letter, including what time Cicely is due back at her parents’ carnival food booth, but her schedule is derailed when a spirit possesses Tati Mimose after a tarot reading gone wrong. With the help of Renee and her classmate—and crush—Kwame, Cicely embarks on a borough-wide hunt to gather the ceremonial items required to cast out the ghost in time for Tati Mimose’s interview. Rigaud develops a fast-paced love letter to Brooklyn and Caribbean American culture via a courageous and resolute cast who, through varying interpersonal struggles, explore the meaning of vodou while reckoning with internalized shame about their heritage. Ages 12–up. (Aug.)