May 11, 2009 – Pike's debut novel a faerie story with a touch of Arthurian legend offers a botanical twist on the genre. Laurel Sewell, the new girl in town, discovers a strange zit on her back, which blooms into a flower. With the help of her friend and growing love interest, David, with whom she entrusts this information, Laurel finds out that she is a faerie, and that faeries are really highly evolved plants (Pike gives readers hints: Laurel prefers to have lunch outside and eats little besides vegetables and Sprite). Tamani, her sexy faerie guardian, completes the love triangle, as he protects Laurel from encroaching dark forces and fills in the blanks about her past. As Laurel and David never muster much chemistry, her rocky journey of self-discovery is the main draw ( It makes me want to go home and go to sleep and wake up to find that all of this is a dream. That the flower, the bump, even public school never happened ). Pike's novel mythology should win fans for this book, billed as the first in a series. Ages 12 up.

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