The Icarus Girl, Paperback/Helen Oyeyemi

The audacious first novel from the award-winning and highly acclaimed Helen Oyeyemi. Jessamy Jess Harrison, age eight, is the child of an English father and a Nigerian mother. Possessed of an extraordinary imagination, she has a hard time fitting in at school. It is only when she visits Nigeria for the first time that she makes a friend who understands her: a ragged little girl named TillyTilly. But soon TillyTilly s visits become more disturbing, until Jess realizes she doesn t actually know who her friend is at all. Drawing on Nigerian mythology, Helen Oyeyemi presents a striking variation on the classic literary theme of doubles both real and spiritual in this lyrical and bold debut. "