Witches, Wolves, and Women

Romina Garber is a bestselling author. Her books include Cazadora and, under pen name Romina Russell, the four-book Zodiac series. Manuela Azul is an undocumented immigrant on the run from her father’s Argentine crime-family. She’s confined to a small apartment and a small life in Miami, Florida. Until her protective bubble is shattered. Her surrogate grandmother is attacked, lifelong lies are exposed, and her mother is arrested by ICE. Without a home, but also without shackles, Manu investigates the only clue she has about her past—a mysterious “Z” emblem that leads her to a secret world buried within our own. It’s a world connected to her dead father and his criminal past, a world straight out of Argentine folklore, where the seventh consecutive daughter is born a witch and the seventh consecutive son is a lobizón, a werewolf. In Lobizona (Wednesday Books) we follow Manu as she uncovers her story and traces her real heritage all the way back to a cursed city in Argentina. As it turns out, it’s not just her U.S. residency that’s illegal, it’s her entire existence. In a starred review Publishers Weekly noted that “In a timely work of magical realism featuring references to Borges and Garcia Márquez, Garber tackles issues of nationalism, identity, and belonging…This layered novel blends languages and cultures to create a narrative that celebrates perseverance.”

Zoraida Córdova is the author of nine fantasy novels for kids and teens, most recently the Brooklyn Brujas series, Incendiary, and Star Wars: A Crash of Fate. Her short fiction has appeared in the New York Times bestselling anthology Star Wars: From a Certain Point of View, Come on In: 15 Stories About Immigration and Finding Home, and Toil & Trouble: 15 Tales of Women and Witchcraft. She is the co-editor of Vampires Never Get Old: Eleven Tales with Fresh Bite. In Cordova’s debut middle grade novel The Way to Rio Luna (Scholastic Inc.) eleven-year-old Danny Monteverde believes in magic, pixie dust and rabbit holes lead to Wonderland. Most of all, he believes that his older sister, Pili, is waiting for him somewhere in Rio Luna, the enchanted land in their favorite book of fairy tales. When the siblings were placed in separate foster homes, she promised that she’d come back for him, and they’d build a new life together in Rio Luna. As the years pass, Danny’s faith begins to dim. But just when he thinks it might be time to put fairy tales behind him, he finds a collection of stories that contain hints about how to reach another world. A map to Rio Luna and to Pili. School Library Journal said that “With its diverse, fully-realized cast of characters and inventive world-building, this complex adventure quest is a rare treat for fantasy lovers and those who believe in magic.”