Excerpt from The Roaring Days of Zora Lily by Noelle Salazar, plus links to reviews, author biography & more

"Probably just some girl talk in our pajamas," I said, keeping my eyes averted as she had an uncanny knack for spotting a lie. But when I glanced at her, she was staring at Hannah, who was lying on her stomach on her and Eva's bed, her nose quite literally buried in a book.

"How does she fall asleep like that?" Sarah asked.

Out of the seven of us, Hannah stood out by practically disappearing into the woodwork. She was the quietest, always with a book in her hand and a far-off look in her eyes. She was the only one to inherit our father's pale red-gold hair and fair skin. While the rest of us turned a deep golden color in the sun, she merely turned a shade of pink before her skin rejected the idea of color and turned back to its beautiful shade of porcelain.

"I don't know," I said. "But whenever I see her like that, I think how wonderful it must be to get sucked into a story so deeply."

We stared for a moment longer, smiling at our younger sister, and then Sarah looked toward the door, her eyes widening, and pressed a hand to her mouth to keep from laughing too loud.

I turned to see what was so funny and found Eva, the youngest member of the family, wearing an old shirt and pair of trousers that had been Harrison's, an eyepatch I'd made her last week, and a glare with the one eye we could see.

"Where are you going?" she asked, taking in the bag I was packing.

"To Rose's house," I said. "Did you see the heart I sewed for you?"

Her expression changed, like storm clouds parting to expose the sun.

"It's perfect!" she said, and jumped on to the bed next to Sarah, nearly knocking my bag to the floor.

"Good," I said. "Try to make it last more than a week this time, okay?"

She scrunched up her tiny face but nodded, her mop of dark hair, uncombed and sticking up all over her head bouncing with every dip of her chin.

"Well," I said, latching my small suitcase closed. "That's everything I guess. See you ladies tomorrow?"

"See you!" Eva said before throwing herself at me in a hug and then racing from the room.

"Have fun tonight," Sarah said. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

"Can't get in much trouble at the Tiller residence," I said.

"Mmm-hmm," she said. I met her eyes. She knew. Maybe not where I was going, but that I wasn't being completely honest about my plans.

"I won't," I said.

"Be safe," she whispered and I nodded.

"You know me," I said. "Too responsible to be any fun."

"Well. Then maybe, for tonight, be a little irresponsible. You deserve it."

I leaned over and kissed her cheek, turned and kissed the top of Hannah's sleeping head, grabbed my bag, and waved as I hurried out the bedroom door.

Excerpted from The Roaring Days of Zora Lily by Noelle Salazar. Copyright © 2023 by Noelle Salazar. Excerpted by permission of Mira Books. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.