num_pages: 368
description: The LaZelle family of southern California has a secret: they can do magic. Real magic. As a teenager, a LaZelle undergoes "the Transition' —a severe illness that will either kill him or leave him with magical powers. If he's lucky, he gains a talent like shape-changing or wish-granting. If he's unlucky, he never experiences Transition. If he's especially unlucky, he undergoes Transition late, which increases his chances of dying. And if he survives, he will bear the burden of a dark, dangerous magic: the ability to cast only curses. And curse he must, for when a LaZelle doesn't use his magic, it kills him.In Nina Kiriki Hoffman's A Fistful of Sky, Gypsum LaZelle is unique among her brothers and sisters: she has not undergone Transition. She resigns herself to a mundane, magic-bereft existence as a college student. Then one weekend, when her family leaves her home alone, she becomes gravely ill... — Cynthia Ward
language: English
title: A Fistful of Sky
titlecomplete: A Fistful of Sky  (LaZelle, #1)
characters: Gypsum LaZelle, Opal LaZelle
genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, Magic, Urban Fantasy, Magical Realism, Fiction, Fantasy, Witches, Paranormal, Romance
ratings_count: 1625
series: LaZelle
awards: awardedAt: 1041408000000
name: Mythopoeic Fantasy Award
category: Adult Literature, awardedAt: 1041408000000
name: James Tiptree Jr. Award
publisher: Ace