You don't (and by you don't I mean I don't) read many stories about the sinewy connection between siblings. Start here. Bring your heart: you'll hand it over to (and then shatter it to pieces for) the three siblings of the Bigtree clan, Ava, Ossie, and Kiwi. Bring your guts: in their regular lives at the family-run island theme park Swamplandia!, these kids wrestle alligators and date the dead; in their coming-of-age storms, they prove as unexpectedly resilient as the swamp itself. And bring along a good chuckle, too: their naive innocence will have you laughing, as will Karen Russell's observations of the absurdities we all impose on ourselves in the name of survival.

Don't forget your literary brain: you'll want it along to appreciate Russell's brazen talent for writing fiercely beautiful, arresting prose.

I'm off to find a copy of Russell's short story collection immediately, although I sort of feel like I need a few more days just to think about this one.