Pigs Don't Fly

``I was a huge lump of grease, wobbling from foot to foot like ill-set aspic,'' confesses Summerdai, the heroine of this improbable charmer with the equally improbable title. Because of her girth, the 17-year-old Summer was passed over to replace her mother as the town prostitute. Equipped with a few supplies, a small dowry and a rather ugly ring left by her mysterious father, she sets out. But the ring is actually a bit of unicorn horn that warns her of danger and, most importantly, allows her to communicate with animals. In quick succession she picks up a ratty dog; a badly used horse; a starved turtle; a wounded pigeon; a man who lost both sight and memory after a bump on the head; and a rather curious little pig with tiny bat wings. The seven of them head south to look for the homes of horse, pigeon and man, during which Summer gains much self-confidence and loses much weight while the small pig/bat gets larger, wiser, more mysterious and more lovable. Funny, moving and always unpredictable, Brown's ( The Unlikely Ones ) incredible journey may disappoint readers looking for established genre formulas but for those more adventurous and independent sorts, it is a find. (May)