WINNER OF THE FLORIDA BOOK AWARD

In this wildly imaginative debut collection, whimsical fairy tales of princesses and farm girls turn dark, and dark tales of mistreated sideshow freaks turn whimsical. An itinerant marionette falls prey to a lusty mesmerist. An alcoholic camp counselor is haunted by her dead best friend. A juvenile delinquent languishes in a boot camp run by authoritarian grandmas. Be they human monsters or reluctant moth-girls, the outcasts that populate these eleven compelling stories all long for escape, community, acceptance, and self-discovery.