Barrio Girls — Charles de Lint

Ruby and Vida haunt a dry riverbed near the trailer park where they live, pretending to be magical beings, until a deadly encounter with an actual witch changes everything. Now magic is no longer a game of pretend, it's the only thing that will keep them alive. But first they have to find it.

This reprinted short story takes place in Santo del Vado Viejo, the setting of de Lint's acclaimed novels The Painted Boy and The Mystery of Grace.

“One of the most original fantasy writers currently working.” -- Booklist

“Charles de Lint is the modern master of urban fantasy. Folktale, myth, fairy
tale, dreams, urban legend -- all of it adds up to pure magic in de Lint's vivid,
original world. No one does it better.” -- Alice Hoffman

“De Lint creates an entirely organic mythology that seems as real as the folklore
from which it draws.” -- Publishers Weekly, starred review

“De Lint is a romantic; he believes in the great things, faith, hope, and charity
(especially if love is included in that last), but he also believes in the power of
magic -- or at least the magic of fiction -- to open our eyes to a larger world.” -- Edmonton Journal

“It's hard not to feel encouraged to be a better person after reading a book by
Ottawa's Charles de Lint.” -- Halifax Chronicle Herald

“If Ottawa-area author Charles de Lint didn't create the contemporary fantasy, he certainly defined it. …writer-musician-artist-folklorist de Lint has lifted our accepted reality and tipped it just enough sideways to show the possibilities that lie beneath the surface… Unlike most fantasy writers who deal with battles between ultimate good and evil, de Lint concentrates on smaller, very personal conflicts. Perhaps this is what makes him accessible to the non-fantasy audience as well as the hard-core fans. Perhaps it's just damned fine writing.”
-- Quill & Quire

“In de Lint's capable hands, modern fantasy becomes something other than escapism. It becomes folk song, the stuff of urban myth.”
―The Phoenix Gazette