Lost Children — Francesca Lia Block

After the loss of her mother, a woman returns to the San Fernando Valley only to uncover a haunting secret about her childhood friend. A visiting professor at a charming but strange California liberal arts college must face her past in order to protect her son. A sister, lost in the woods, confronts the dangerous truth about her brother, her stepmother, and herself.Rose's dog Wolfie has died, and three seductive women offer to help return him to her. But only if she will pay the price.Mira, distraught and ill after the death of her husband, Richard, wanders out into a weird new world to battle the monsters of her grief.And Mim must disguise herself in order to infiltrate an LA sex trafficking ring and rescue her daughter.Francesca Lia Block, known for her own brand of Southern California magical realism, brings the darkest of traditional fairy tales to life in a contemporary way that speaks to universal themes and the very specific challenges of our times, as her heroines fight ogres, witches, and demons in order to save their loved ones and, ultimately, themselves.