• Booklist Reviews : Booklist Reviews 2020 April #1
  *Starred Review* Manu, with eyes like blazing suns, divides herself between two worlds, which means she doesn't feel like a part of either. In the human world, living in Miami, she's an undocumented immigrant whose mother is taken away and shipped off to a detention center. In the Septimus world, where all girls are brujas, or witches, she's an illegal hybrid and the first-known lobizona, or female werewolf. In both worlds, staying hidden is what keeps her safe. Garber's gorgeous novel combines the wonder of a Hogwarts-style magic school with the Twilight-esque dynamics of a hidden magical species that has strict rules about interacting with the human world. Along Manu's journey of self-discovery—which includes a satisfying romance—her new friends, two brujas and a lobizona, provide feminist discourse on how she can survive. One of them insists she maintain her invisibility, while another wants a wide-scale shake-up, advising Manu to become a trailblazer for any lobizonas who follow. Garber uses her own experience as an Argentine immigrant, as well as classic literature that Manu enjoys, to add richness and authenticity to the story and prose. Dialogue is related in Spanish—immediately translated into English via italics—which brings Manu and the other characters to vivid life and makes them, and the lore, absolutely memorable. Grades 8-12. Copyright 2020 Booklist Reviews.

ROMINA GARBER (pen name Romina Russell) is a New York Times and international bestselling author. Originally from Argentina, she landed her first writing gig as a teen—a weekly column for the Miami Herald that was later nationally syndicated—and she hasn’t stopped writing since. Her books include Lobizona. When she’s not working on a novel, Romina can be found producing movie trailers, taking photographs, or daydreaming about buying a new drum set. She is a graduate of Harvard College and a Virgo to the core.