Eleanor Crewes

Found browsing at Jones

Lilla and her older sister Dani go to stay with their aunt in Italy for a month (parents to join them later). In her room, Lilla finds a book marked STREGA - witch. She must come to terms with two new aspects of her identity: she's a witch, and she's gay.

Lilla's family is loving and accepting; though Zia, Dani, and Lilla's parents are all straight, one of Zia's employees is gay. Zia and Lilla's mother are also witches, and Zia and her familiar, a cat called Morrigan, help protect Lilla from Stregamama, who wants to steal her soul to live forever.

See also: The Witch Boy by Molly Ostertag… (mais)

To me, reading this book felt a lot like reading a poetry collection; I couldn't read too fast or I'd miss something important. I related to Crewes a lot while reading it. I feel that many white queer western women may relate because of the heteronormative cultures that we're brought up in that help us internalize so much nonsense. It was also nice to read a coming out story that wasn't entirely linear. Crewes talks about coming out multiple times and how long it took her to finally accept that she was gay. This is a fantastic Pride Month read.… (mais)