Laurie Foos

Ava was born with wings. No one called them that until she was two years old. She hides her wings under a special device her father made for her. She never takes off her backpack at school. No one knows her secret, not even her best friend Theo, who was born with two different-colored eyes. The doctor told Ava that she can choose to have the wings removed when she turns sixteen. The big day arrives, and she can't decide what to do. Without her wings, Ava thinks she can be like everybody else. But is that what she really wants? When Ava makes a new friend at school, she begins to see things--and herself--in new ways. Lucy offers her friendship and exquisite drawings of wings. Lucy makes Ava think. The Other asks us to consider what it means to be different and what it means to accept the unique parts of ourselves.

In many ways, the Hamilton children are like any other kids. Eleven-year-old Mia and ten-year-old Will love playing Minecraft, eating pizza, and playing in the yard. But Mia knows that because Will is on the autism spectrum, some things are different for him. For starters, he doesn't like things to change. Pizza has to be just so crispy, or he won't eat it. He uses lines from movies to answer most questions. If his toast is too dark, Will could have a total meltdown. When Mom and Dad announce they're getting a babysitter for the first time, Mia is alarmed. What will happen if the babysitter doesn't understand the unusual things Will does? Her parents know that she is Will's "translator" because she always understands him. Can they manage a whole night with a brand-new person in charge? Is it always Mia's job to worry, or can she find a way to rely on other people? Toast explores the tender, scary, funny, and always complex relationship between a girl and her autistic brother.

Linda and Earl are a happy couple. Although married for many years, they have never had children. Still, they are content being together, and watching reruns of "I Love Lucy" keeps them close. That, and a magical garden that never seems to grow what they plant. One day Earl finds a set of infant toes in the loam. He and Linda plant them and watch in amazement as the garden produces an enormous baby. Now Earl and Linda have to figure out how to be parents--if they are parents--and what to do about the giant baby who eats everything and cries for his mama.

Fiction. WRECKAGE OF REASON incorporates the work of 39 contemporary women writers who are pushing the boundaries of fiction. In this diverse and comprehensive volume, the writers have manipulated traditional ways of storytelling, language, and plot, to express new and distinct ways of seeing and experiencing the world. Narrative form is subverted, provocative subject matter explored, and language takes on a scatological form to depict an authentic human experience that makes reading a truly participatory act. At the conclusion of each work, the contributor has composed a few impressions sharing what inspired her to tell that particular story. The writers include Lidia Yuknavitch, LilyGrace, Laurie Foos, Kass Fleisher, Barbara Baer, Cynthia Reeves, Lauren Schiffman, Karen Lillis, Megan Milks, Lyn Halper, Fanny Howe, Suki Wessling, Jessica Treat, Shelley Jackson, Laynie Browne, Roni Natov, Cris Mazza, Elizabeth Block, Geri DeLuca, Alicita Rodriguez, Gwen Hart, Masha Tupitsyn, Martha King, Sarah White, Nina Shope, Carmen Firan, Rosebud Ben-Oni, Anna Mockler, Sandra Miller, E. C. Bachner, Tsipi Keller, Summer Brenner, Amina Cain, Karen Brennan, Aimee Parkison, Lily Hoang, Lynda Schor, Danielle Dutton, Danielle Alexander, Debra Di Blasi, and Alexandra Chasin.

A "baroque, surreal, and witty" novel (Ms.) about art, bowling, sex, and hairspray-"a mad tale of a mad genius, by a young author who may be a genius herself" (Kirkus Reviews).