Book Launch Party for Olivia Abtahi

Celebrate with us the next book from local author, Olivia Abtahi!

ABOUT THE BOOK

On estranged twins Leila and Bianca's eighteenth birthday, Leila suddenly gains a djinn's superpowers, and the twins realize that their town can only survive the djinns' secret plans if they learn to work together as sisters. An action-packed YA fantasy!

Twins Bianca and Leila could not be more different from each other. Being both Argentinian and Iranian in a small town has always been hard, but with Leila shunning her heritage and Bianca embracing it, the two walk very different paths. They run in different circles of friends, and barely talk anymore. Leila's a homebody who loves to craft and plans on marrying her high school sweetheart. Bianca's more anti-establishment and plans to get out of Dodge as soon as humanly possible.

But on their eighteenth birthday, the neighbor's barn mysteriously burns down. When Leila encounters a monster--a djinn--arising from the fire, suddenly she gains strange powers and can no longer touch iron.

What do these djinn want with Leila--or other people in town, for that matter? Can the twins learn to rely on each other--and their cultures--to banish them? It'll take a sisterly reconciliation for the girls to find out and to save their hometown in this New Visions Award-winning fantasy adventure

ABOUT OLIVIA ABTAHI

Growing up in the DC area, Olivia devoured books and hid in empty classrooms during school to finish them. Her debut novel, Perfectly Parvin, was published in 2021, receiving the SCBWI Golden Kite Honor, YALSA Odyssey Honor, and numerous starred reviews. Her sophomore novel, Azar on Fire, was published in August 2022 and a SLJ pick. Olivia's third novel, Twin Flames, is a New Visions Award winner publishing in August of 2024. She currently lives in Denver, Colorado, with her husband and daughters.

ABOUT OLIVIA CHADHA

Olivia Chadha writes science fiction, fantasy, comic books, and literary novels for MG, YA, and adult audiences. She has a Ph.D. in literature and creative writing and her research centers on the history of exile, India’s Partition, precarious borders and boundaries, global folklore and fairy tales, and the relationship between humans, machines and the environment. BALANCE OF FRAGILE THINGS is her debut adult literary novel. RISE OF THE RED HAND, her YA debut, was awarded the Colorado Book Award for Young Adult Literature. Book two of The Mechanists Series, FALL OF THE IRON GODS was released April 2024. She is a contributor to the YA folk horror anthology THE GATHERING DARK (Page Street), the desi anthology MAGIC HAS NO BORDERS (HarperTeen), and the STAR WARS anthology, Return of the Jedi: From A Certain Point of View.