The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater The Scorpio Races is timelessly set on an island called Thisby. This is a small, seafaring island where every year The Scorpio Races are held on November 1st. The sea surrounding Thisby is filled with capall usice, dangerous and very fast water horses. The four time winner of the races is young Sean Kendrick, whose father died in The Scorpio Races, and his water horse Corr. But this year is different. This is the year that the first woman enters the race, Kate “Puck” Connelly, with her mare Dove. To Puck’s chagrin, the men don’t like a woman entering their territory, let alone with a simple horse. But Puck needs to win in order to save the family home a
The 13th Sign by Kristin O’Donnell Tubb The 13th Sign is a middle grades/possibly reluctant YA reader novel. Jalen doesn’t believe in astrology, but in honor of her cancer-stricken Nina she keeps the tradition of visiting the voodoo psychic on her birthday. Before she leaves the shop with her best friend Ellie, she finds a strange book. It is soon revealed that this book unlocks the 13th sign of the zodiac: Ophiuchus. The problem is that once Jalen mistakenly unlocks the sign, everyone’s personality changes as their signs shift. Including Jalen’s and her ill Nina. The rest of the zodiac signs are determined to keep Ophiuchus from becoming a permanent sign, namely due to the healing powers of
Serafina and the Twisted Staff by Robert Beatty This middle grades book takes place at Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina. Serafina’s Pa works for Mr. Vanderbilt and after the last book Serafina has been welcomed on the main floors of the estate. But someone is angry that the Black Cloak was destroyed and has come seeking revenge. At the same time Serafina is trying to come to terms with her new identity as a Catamount. Can Serafina learn to believe in herself before the lives of everyone she loves is put in jeopardy? This is a cute book full of mystery and suspense. Most of the chapters end in cliffhangers, which may be helpful if you have a reluctant reader. Serafina is likable a
The Lunar Chronicles Part 2: Fairest, Winter, and Stars Above By Marissa Meyer Overall series so far: 4.5/5 Stars: A fun, futuristic fairy tale retelling with an evil civilization on the moon. Fairest: Fairest is book 3.5 of the series. It is the story of Queen Levana from the death of her parents to the current circumstances in Cress. I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars. Levana is super creepy and this just made her even creepier. From her perspective we see firsthand what a warped view of love and the world that Levana has. At first, you feel like maybe you can’t blame her, but then her behaviors become so malicious and disturbing that you have no choice but to hold her accountable. One thin
Passenger by Alexandra Bracken Passenger is the story of Etta, a violin prodigy. She has a distant relationship with her elusive mother, but that all gets turned on its head when Etta finds out that she is a Traveler. Travelers have a different gene code that allows them to travel through passages in time from year-to-year. Soon, she finds herself on a deadly mission orchestrated by Grandfather, Cyrus Ironwood, to retrieve a device called an astrolabe. Accompanying her on this journey is Nicholas Carter, a biracial descendent of the Ironwoods who remains in 1776 working as a legal ship pirate, and who is looking to free himself from the invisible chains that still bind him to the destructive
