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FOR GIRLS WHO WALK THROUGH FIRE by Kim DeRose

FOR GIRLS WHO WALK THROUGH FIRE

by Kim DeRose

Pub Date: Sept. 26th, 2023
ISBN: 9781454948872
Publisher: Union Square & Co.

A contemporary debut that deals with real-life issues head-on.

Elliott D’Angelo-Brandt is making a list. Every week, as she sits in the Santa Barbara, California, kindergarten classroom where her sexual assault support group meets, she observes the other teens and considers who should join her coven. Eventually she settles on prim and proper Madeline, bubbly rich girl Chloe, and introspective and athletic Bea. With the help of Elliott’s late mother’s spell book, the quartet set out to get what society won’t provide: revenge on their attackers. The spells and their repercussions astonish and begin to scare the young witches as their power—and its consequences—begins to grow. DeRose unflinchingly examines the impact of sexual assault on teens and the various paths there are toward healing. Each having experienced different types of assault, the girls relive their personal histories via shifting perspectives, providing nuance and complexity. Their healing journeys are both hopeful and realistic, as DeRose presents a cleareyed assessment of the subject, including society’s dismissal of victims’ stories and the difficult path to judicial justice. Their growing friendships are compelling and well depicted. Elliott and Madeline are cued white; Chloe is a transracial adoptee from Korea, and Bea is Black. The book explores the impact of race on the girls’ experiences.

A searing examination of sexual assault centering teen witches who fight back.

(Paranormal. 14-18)