"One night a strange homeless man tells Sam and Gilly that they can catch the Witches' Carnival if they 'Run fast. Leave everything behind.' The two troubled girls skip town, pursuing the fabled troupe which 'everybody fantasizes about running away and joining.' Before leaving, they steal more than $50,000 from Gilly's dad, a crooked cop. Their trip takes them from Alabama to Georgia, Florida, Rhode Island and even England, and through a series of strange adventures. Sam has horrific hallucinations after taking too much mescaline at a party; Gilly bribes a former classmate to make passports and later steals a police car-but the law is catching up quickly. Debut novelist Reisz mixes harsh realities with fantasy, which can be a bit jarring initially: Gilly, a gay teen, is tormented at school (e.g., a story she relates to Maggie, the witch with the 'open, effortless smile' for whom she instantly falls); meanwhile, the witches-who include playwright Christopher Marlowe-travel with handmade paper tickets and passports, always appearing at hot spots, but disappearing when trouble starts. The author creates some ambitious combinations: text from Marlow's Doctor Faustus mixes with details about counterfeiting passports, for example, all woven against Sam and Gilly's profanity-strewn dialogue. There is plenty of gritty material here, but readers willing to make the trip with all its strange turns will uncover a surprisingly sweet message about the power of love. Ages 14-up." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

Half Neil Gaiman, and Jack Kerouac, this engrossing novel by an electrifying new voice in teen fiction explores what happens when two high-school misfits embark on a psychedelic road trip in search of the mythic Witches' Carnival. Original.