Many Worlds, One Li-Bro-rian

Chanani, N. (2017) Pashmina . New York, NY: First Second Priyanka is a great artist and cartoonist.  That doesn't really save her from the troubles of being a teen raised by a single mom. When her uncle has a new baby, she starts to feel the loss of the attention she once took for granted.  When she finds a mysterious pashmina scarf in one her mom's old suitcases she doesn't think much of it.  When she puts it on though, it transports her to a beautiful, idealistic version of India.  She begins to withdraw from her family and escape into this colorful India within the pashima.  After begging her mom to let her go to India, she finally gets her way.  In India she gets a rude awakening.  It's not the India of her visions.  There is much hardship mixed in with all the beauty.  After tracking down the origins of her pashmina, she finds the magic within is designed to show women the power of their choices.  She goes home a changed person...

King, A. (2010) Please Ignore Vera Diets . New York, NY: Random House Spoilers!   Vera’s best friend just died.   Except that he’s not her best friend anymore.   She loved him. She hated him.   It’s all pretty complicated.   They say his dead body was just thrown onto his lawn.   They say that he started the fire that killed all those animals.   They say a lot of things, but Vera knows not everything they say is true. Charlie Kahn and Vera were neighbors.   They’ve been best friends since they were children.   Charlie had a sort of rebellious air about him that Vera adored.   He always did his own thing, even if it was weird.   She knew that his father was abusive to his mother, but they kind of just ignored it.   Instead they would hang out in the woods between their houses or go up to the pagoda.   When they were twelve Vera helped Charlie build a tree house in the woods.   They kept improving it, and...