Spirited Away meets One Dark Window, in which a Vietnamese teen from London gets thrust into a magical realm where she must learn to wield a rare magic and uncover dark secrets about her deceased mother's royal past. Linh's mother was just buried this morning, but the guests are already clinking glasses. At the funeral organised by her indifferent father, Linh is visited by a strange boy who hints at secrets about her mother's past and urges her to follow. Desperate to learn more about Mum and intrigued by this boy who stirs vague memories from her childhood, Linh is thrust into another world—Ebrirene, a realm governed by six ancient magics: light, fire, earth, water, nature, and space—where the mysterious boy, Elior, happens to be Crown Prince. Here, Linh learns that her mother was a space mage and princess who defended the kingdom from a demonic onslaught by sealing the portal they came through. Now, with the seal weakening, the Crown believes Linh possesses the same space magic that can prevent the portal from reopening. Linh agrees to train with Elior to uncover secrets about her mother's past and eventually return home. But as her power grows, so too does her suspicion. Caught in a web of court intrigue and a dangerous attraction to the prince, Linh discovers much darker betrayals that forced her mother to flee from this world. Now Linh must decide: help seal the portal and return to her sad but safe existence in London or reclaim her mother's legacy to the throne and risk an all-out war.

Ashley Poston meets Becky Albertalli in this Sapphic, second-chance romance about a teen returning to her grandfather's farm and how joining her childhood best friend's Dungeons & Dragons game gives her the confidence to follow her dreams and get a second-chance at love with her first crush. Dungeons & Dragons loving Harper Reid's summer is off to a rough start. First, she and her mom moved across the country to Clintville, Virginia (population: tiny) to live on her Poppy's farm, which means saying goodbye to her friends and finding a new D&D group to play with. The only thing keeping her going is getting to polish her carpentry skills in the farm's woodshop so she can get an apprenticeship after graduation. That is if she can tell her mom that she doesn't want to go to college, which is kind of hard when mom keeps asking about applications and if she has picked out the perfect school yet. What Harper really needs is to channel the confidence and bravery of her awesome D&D character, and then maybe she could find a new D&D group and tell her mom that her passion is woodworking, not a four-year university. And, hey, maybe she could find a cool girlfriend, too. The one encounter Harper wasn't expecting was running into Ollie Shifflet: neighbor, childhood best friend, and, oh yeah, first crush. Unlike Harper, Ollie seems to have everything figured out. She plans on spending the summer digging around in her garden and hanging out with her best friends and trying D&D with them for the first time. Then after graduation it is community college, then opening a small nature-based daycare center and living her best bisexual life . . . well, as long as that last bit stays private. But when beautiful, bold, Harper Reid comes waltzing back into her life and joins her D&D group, suddenly Ollie's plan seems to have a Harper-shaped hole in it. So when feelings start to develop in their Dungeons & Dragons game between Harper's brash Barbarian character and Ollie's proud Paladin, Harper and Ollie begin wondering if they are falling for each in real life or if it is all just apart of the game. As the school year draws to a close and the final boss looms on the horizon, Harper and Ollie must decide if the relationship that they have been roleplaying in the game could be as real for them.

In the gripping first novel in the Daughters of the Empty Throne trilogy, author Margaret Killjoy spins a tale of earth magic, power struggle, and self-invention in an own-voices story of trans witchcraft. Lorel has always dreamed of becoming a witch: learning magic, fighting monsters, and exploring the world beyond the small town where she and her mother run the stables. Even though a strange plague is killing the trees in the Kingdom of Cekon and witches are being blamed for it, Lorel wants nothing more than to join them. There’s only one problem: all witches are women, and she was born a boy. When the coven comes to claim her best friend, Lorel disguises herself in a dress and joins in her friend’s place, leaving home and her old self behind. She soon discovers the dark powers threatening the kingdom: a magical blight scars the land, and the power-mad Duchess Helte is crushing everything between her and the crown. In spite of these dangers, Lorel makes friends and begins learning magic from the powerful witches in her coven. However, she fears that her new friends and mentors will find out her secret and kick her out of the coven, or worse.

An enchanting novel about a witch who has a second chance to get her magical powers—and her life—back on track, from the national bestselling author of The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches. Sera Swan was once one of the most powerful witches in Britain. Then she resurrected her great-aunt Jasmine from the (very recently) dead, lost most of her magic, befriended a semi-villainous talking fox, and was exiled from her magical Guild. Now she ( slightly reluctantly and just a bit grumpily) helps Aunt Jasmine run an inn in Lancashire, where she deals with her quirky guests' shenanigans, tries to keep the talking fox in check, and longs for the magical future she lost. When she learns about an old spellbook that holds the secret to restoring her power, she turns to Luke Larsen, a gorgeous historian who might just be able to help her unlock the book’s mysteries. Luke, who has his own reasons for staying at the inn, never planned on getting involved in the madcap goings-on around him and certainly had no intention of letting certain grumpy innkeepers past his icy walls, so no one is more surprised than he is when he not only agrees to help, but also finds himself thawing. Running an inn, reclaiming lost magic, and staying one step ahead of the watchful Guild is a lot for anyone, but Sera is about to discover that she doesn’t have to do it alone... and that the weird, wonderful family she’s made might be the best magic of all.

A transformative exploration of the power, purpose, and benefits of gatherings in our lives: at work, at school, at home and beyond. Every day we find ourselves in gatherings, Priya Parker says in The Art of Gathering. If we can understand what makes these gatherings effective and memorable, then we can reframe and redirect them to benefit everyone, host and guest alike. Parker defines a gathering as three or more people who come together for a specific purpose. When we understand why we gather, she says -- to acknowledge, to learn, to challenge, to change -- we learn how to organize gatherings that are relevant and memorable: from an effective business meeting to a thought-provoking conference; from a joyful wedding to a unifying family dinner. Drawing on her experience as a strategic facilitator who's worked with such organizations as the World Economic Forum, the Museum of Modern Art, and the retail company Fresh, Parker explains how ordinary people can create remarkable occasions, large and small. In dozens of fascinating examples, she breaks down the alchemy of these experiences to show what goes into the good ones and demonstrates how we can learn to incorporate those elements into all of our gatherings. The result is a book that's both journey and guide, full of big ideas with real-world applications that will change the way you look at a business meeting, a parent-teacher conference, and a backyard barbecue.

A girl visits a bazaar in Cairo, seeking a favor from a mysterious angelic being. This story first appeared in the anthology Clockwork Cairo: Steampunk Tales of Egypt.