Lucretia and the Kroons by Victor Lavalle
This novella is a surreal story of Lucretia, a 12-year-old girl who is a late bloomer. Her mom tries to have a birthday party for her, but it doesn't go well and Lucretia decides to save the cake until her best friend Sunny is home. Sunny has been in the hospital getting cancer treatment.
It is a couple months before Sunny comes home, and the day of the delayed birthday celebrations arrives. Lucretia's mother goes out to lunch with Lucretia's older brother Louis, and Sunny is expected soon. Instead, someone from the apartment two floors up leaves something of Sunny's on Lucretia's fire escape, and Lucretia is led on an adventure through the upstairs apartment and into a world similar but different than her own. Up to this point, I thought of this as a children's book, but it quickly becomes more of a horror story. There are elements here of fantasy, and we find mental illness plays a role as well. There is a sequel to this coming out soon that continues Lucretia's story.
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