If I Promise You Wings

Small (Bright Burning Stars) transports readers to Paris in this dreamy portrait of grief, fashion, and love. White 17-year-old Alix Leclaire and her best friend since childhood, Jeanne, have a pact to achieve their greatest dreams—Alix will become a renowned feather artist by apprenticing with Mademoiselle Salomé and Jeanne will become a famous rock star. When Jeanne is killed in a car accident shortly after graduation, Alix is left reeling, with only their pact and her goal as a guidepost. With Jeanne’s vivacious voice ringing in her head and urging her on, Alix approaches Mademoiselle Salomé and receives an internship at her boutique, Mille et Une Plume. But the world of fashion and feathers is a cutthroat, complicated place, made even more complex by the amorous attentions of two divergent suitors: Raven, Mademoiselle Salomé’s gorgeous artist son, and Jeanne’s musician friend Blaise. Unhurried, ethereal prose works well to present this fanciful rendition of learning how to move on. Elements of seemingly unlimited freedom, found family, impossible dreams, and dancing on the Eiffel Tower in the rain make this lyrical novel a sure thing for romantics and Francophiles alike. Ages 14–up. (Jan.)