The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton

Magical realism, lyrical prose, and the pain and passion of human love haunt this hypnotic generational saga.

Foolish love appears to be the Roux family birthright, an ominous forecast for its most recent progeny, Ava Lavender. Ava—in all other ways a normal girl—is born with the wings of a bird. In a quest to understand her peculiar disposition and a growing desire to fit in with her peers, sixteen-year old Ava ventures into the wider world, ill-prepared for what she might discover and naïve to the twisted motives of others. Others like the pious Nathaniel Sorrows, who mistakes Ava for an angel and whose obsession with her grows until the night of the Summer Solstice celebration. That night, the skies open up, rain and feathers fill the air, and Ava’s quest and her family’s saga build to a devastating crescendo. First-time author Leslye Walton has constructed a layered and unforgettable mythology of what it means to be born with hearts that are tragically, exquisitely human.

WHOA. This debut sounds like it’s going to ROCK MY SOCKS RIGHT OFF MY FEET. Read that synopsis again and count the awesome things. It’s ok. I’ll wait. *waits and hums and daydreams about Ichabod Crane from the Sleepy Hollow TV show* So, did you see all the awesome things?! Magical realism, a girl who LITERALLY has wings, teenage angst, trouble with love, a boy who thinks said girl with feathers is an angel–I can’t deal. Like, I am ready to read this book NOW NOW NOW. Plus, I’m very much looking forward to the fact that THE STRANGE AND BEAUTIFUL SORROWS OF AVA LAVENDER  is Leslye Walton‘s debut, and that even the SYNOPSIS sounds pretty. That is some kind of good sign, I think.

The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender is coming out on March 25, 2014 from Candlewick Press