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Summary: NAMED BY THE NATIONAL BOOK FOUNDATION AS A 5 UNDER 35 AUTHOR Vaclav and Lena seem destined for each other. They meet as children in an ESL class in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn. Vaclav is precocious and verbal. Lena, struggling with English, takes comfort in the safety of his adoration, his noisy, loving home, and the care of Rasia, his big-hearted mother. Vaclav imagines their story unfolding like a fairy tale, or the perfect illusion from his treasured "Magicians Almanac, " but among the many truths to be discovered in Haley Tanners wondrous debut is that happily ever after is never a foregone conclusion. One day, Lena does not show up for school. She has disappeared from Vaclav and his familys lives as if by a cruel magic trick. For the next seven years, Vaclav says goodnight to Lena without fail, wondering if she is doing the same somewhere. On the eve of Lenas seventeenth birthday he finds out. Haley Tanner has the originality and verve of a born storyteller, and the boldness to imagine a world in which love can overcome the most difficult circumstances. In "Vaclav & Lena" she has created two unforgettable young protagonists who evoke the joy, the confusion, and the passion of having a profound, everlasting connection with someone else. Praise for "Vaclav & Lena" "Wonderful and wrenching . . . Vibrant characters, believable romance and dark undertones make for a moving tale."--"The New York Times" "From the moment they meet, Vaclav and Lena make magic together. . . . Through all the twists and turns of the book, the most enduring theme of the novel is love."--NPR "Haley Tanners assured narrative voice finds new ways to describe emotion and character, stunning the reader again and again with small shocks of awareness. This book is sad, funny, true, and shot through with grace."--Judy Blundell, National Book Award-winning author of" What I Saw and How I Lied" "Highly recommended . . . Tanners captivating debut novel is a love story of unusual innocence and intensity and] a suspenseful, literary work that is hard to put down.""--Library Journal" "A debut to savor . . . Tanners charming story unfolds as gracefully as a flower.""--People" " " "The magic Tanner makes is as dazzling as it is profound."--"Booklist" "From the Hardcover edition."