Gunfire at a New Jersey 7-Eleven and a rapid relocation from home plunges a young girl into a new life in Northern New Mexico, where a boy named Wolf clambers up the canyons of the Pajarito Plateau.

"It's about how you can suffer a tragedy and miss that parent dreadfully because the girl who's the protagonist adored her father, and now he's dead and she has to move on with her life," famed author Judy Blume said of her 1981 novel Tiger Eyes, set in Los Alamos , during a recent interview.

Blume, known for her popular children and young adult books, is one of several heavy-hitters in the lineup for the Santa Fe International Literary Festival in May, which is continuing to raise its profile ahead of the start of ticket sales in January.

Marking the fourth year of its existence, the 20

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