Rebel Belle

Rebel Belle by Rachel Hawkins, 2014 G.P Putnam and Sons

     At Pine Grove Academy Harper Price is a legend. As a high school junior she is the first junior to ever be student body president; head cheerleader; Homecoming Queen; member of the Future Business Leaders of America, Committee for Academic Honesty, and Key Club; and Chairperson for Pine Grove's Annual Christmas Bake Sale. To top it off Harper is dating Ryan Bradshaw - the perfect boyfriend, and has  a key role in this year's Cotillion. And, until the night of the Homecoming Dance, she has little trouble balancing her demanding life and maintaining a running feud wiht David Stark since Kindergarten.
     Due to a quirk of wardrobe, Harper finds herself in the girls' bathroom when the school janitor rushes in, dying from a wound to the abdomen. He passes a strange sort of power to Harper, who then must defend hersefl from her history teacher when he attempts to murder her. harper uses her stilleto shoe to kill the teacher adn escape. When she flees she runs into the last person she wanted to see: David.
     When an article on Harper's post-murder breakdown runs in the school paper Monday morning she knows David is to blame. In confronting him, Harper discovers her new superpowers don't allow her to harm David, or allow anyone else to. This complicates things when Ryan tries to defend Harper's honor and she flips her boyfriend over her shoulder.
     Life continues to complicate as Harper learns what her new superpowers make her--a Paladin: superhuman Protector of the Oracle. Small problem; David Stark is the Oracle. Harper is the only thing standing between David and attempts to either murder or imprison him. Harper and David team up, much to the confusion of all Pine Grove. The closer time ticks to Cotillion the more danger Harper feels.
     When the duo discover a sorcersess who tries to bring David to fight against Delphi (the home of the Oracle) and the order who manage the Oracle's magic Harper finds there is more to being a paladin than has ever been explained to her.
     Going from the girl who has everythign under control and can control anything to the girl at the center of a whirlpool with no control over her own body, let alone her circumstances, nearly drives Harper to the edge. She and David try to grasp what their new relationship means and try to keep themselves alive long enough to reach Senior Year. Mythology and magic blend with small-town charm to create a story of friendship and growth suitable for young teen readers and adults alike.

The Agency: The Traitor in the Tunnel

The Traitor in the Tunnel by Y.S. Lee, 2012 Candlewick Press

     After finishing her mission at the clocktower construction site, Mary Quinn has accepted her first role as a fully-fledged member of the Agency. Several months of trying to forget James Easton have been somewhat successful and Mary has taken the place of parlor maid at Buckingham Palace serving Queen Victoria.
     Her mission is simple in aim: find who has been stealing trinkets from the royal residence. But it becomes more than a simple search and find.
     Anne and Felicity, the managers of the Agency, have been tense. Their fraught relationship begins to affect Mary's work when valuable information fails to reach her; cracks in the facade between Anne and Felicity appear and begin to snake their way through the Agency as a whole. Mary finds herself depending only on the resources she can supply with her own two hands as the situation becomes more complicated and more dangerous.
     Prince Bertie, Her Majesty's heir apparent, witnesses the murder of his friend at the hands of a Lascar, and Mary worries it is her father recently reappeared. In his trauma the prince latches on to Mary as the only sympathetic ear without her own agenda--and pushes his attentions beyond acceptable boundaries.
     Balancing her work and her personal agenda against the consequences of interacting with the monarch and royal family tax Mary, but do not prevent her from seeking the truth. When the mysteries become more coherent and are explained to her satisfaction, Mary is still left with a desire for something more. Teen readers and young adult will enjoy the passionate banter back and forth between Mary and James and fans of historical fiction will enjoy the elaborate glimpse into historical England.

Shadow and Bone

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo, 2012 Henry Holt and Co.

     Alina Starkov and Malyen Oretsev grow up together in an orphanage. As adults they join Ravka's First Army in service to the king. They are sent to the Shadow Fold where darkness reigns over the land and strange creatures feast on human flesh.
     Moments into their journey across the Fold, the sandskiff Alina and Mal travel on is attacked and Mal nearly dies at the talons of the Volcra. When Alina is taken by the creature, something strange and unexplainable happens and the monsters flee. She is taken to the Darkling and his inspection shows the power of a Sun Summoner. Alina is swept away from her friends and life to Os Alta and the Grisha training grounds.
     The Darkling insists Alina be trained to help him beat back the darkness of the Fold. Repeatedly Alina is reminded of the danger the Fold presents and how her power is the only defense, but the young woman is homesick for Mal and the friendship she has known her entire life. Despite her attraction to the handsome and magnetic leader of the Grisha something in Alina still holds out for a return to her former life. When she finally gives in to the hopelessness of Mal's seeming rejection (After several months of letters he has yet to respond.) the power Alina hid as a small child blossoms and she begins to find her place with the Grisha.
     On the night of the King's Winter Fete Alina believes her place among the Grisha to be solidified: she has learned to use her power, she has friends among the other Grisha, the Darkling wants her, and the amplifier she and the Darkling have been searching for is finally within grasp. But her content is thrown into a whirl when Mal appears in Os Alta and one of Alina's instructors urges her to flee the city. Alina begins a journey which will tear at the world she has fought to create and a journey which can either throw Ravka into further turmoil or begin its redemption.
     Shadow and Bone is a fantasy from tsarist Russia complete with lavish palaces, dank poverty, and vainglorious warfare. Alina and Mal are best friends who became each other's anchor after their parents were killed in the Border Wars; upon their separation Alina is forced to find her own strength, and discovers she has kept more than just secrets from herself. More mature readers who enjoy fantasy such as The Girl of Fire and Thorns, Grave Mercy and Throne of Glass will enjoy Bardugo's story of a young woman searching for a place to belong.

Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow

Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow by Jessica Day George, 2008 Bloomsbury Childrens

         The ninth child and fourth daughter of a poor woodcutter's family the Pika (Swedish for young girl) is ignored by her mother even remaining nameless throughout childhood. The family lives in a land of eternal winter. The Pika is cared for by her siblings, especially the eldest Hans Peter - who returns a tired and worn man after spending most of the Pika's childhood traveling the world.
     When the mystical white reindeer is seen around the outskirts of town all men of the village chase him. The girl joins the hunt in hopes that catching the white reindeer will grant her a wish.
     The Pika manages to free the white reindeer without realizing it and he gifts her with the ability to understand animals and her greatest wish: a name. For the next few years the Pika keeps her name a secret and her gift of speaking to animals brings her family renown.
     When an Isbjorn, giant polar bear, comes searching for the teenaged Pika her understanding of his language encourages the bear to implore the Pika join him in his palace in the North. Their home offers every luxury and convenience. The bear tells the Pika in exchange for a year with him her family will receive great riches.
     The Pika agrees and is startled as each night a strange man joins her in bed - nothing so sinister as trying to take advantage, whoever the man is he climbs into bed in the dark of night and sleeps the night through, then is gone before the Pika wakes in the morning. The Isbjorn warns her not to light a candle, what the Pika discovers after several months of nightly visits is enough to drive her curiosity to nearly disregard the single request the Isbjorn has made of her.
     Trapped in the mysterious castle with only the Isbjorn, his servants, and her wolf-pup from home the Pika discovers the magic and mystery are intertwined in a curse. A curse which has touched even Hans Peter and sends the Pika East of the sun and West of the moon to rescue her Isbjorn. A retelling of the Scandinavian folk tale Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow is aimed at young adult readers and full of grotesque magics practiced on everyday people.

Lady Friday

Lady Friday by Garth Nix, 2007 Scholastic Books

   The fifth Trustee of the House sends an invitation for Arthur, along with the other potential heirs, to take her place as leader of the Middle House. Meanwhile Lady Friday is on Earth in the hospital where Leaf and the rest of Arthur's friends and family are recovering from the toxic mind-control mold which takes over their town.
     Lady Friday, as a denizen of the house, cannot feel emotions. Instead Friday kidnapped at least a thousand humans and transported them to another world where she drained their emotions, Lady Friday drinks the emotions as a way to feel some of the human's feelings.
     Friday arranges a challenge which allows Arthur, the Piper, and Superior Saturday to battle for stewardship. Whoever reaches the fifth key first wins. Suzy Turquoise Blue and Fred Gold Numbers have been kidnapped by the Piper, when Friday sends the invitation they hijack its transport and meet Arthur at the bottom of Friday's terraced mountain .
     At the top of the mountain in Friday's Scriptorium lies a trap for the heir, the Piper is first and his minion is swallowed in the trap of Nothing. Arthur finds the Will and it exerts restraint on the rest and counters Lady Friday's rampant lust for emotion. Arthur uses the Keys to repair the hole of Nothing in the House, though it brings him closer to becoming a Denizen of the House. In discovering the trap Arthur manages to save his friend Leaf, but his mother is not among the people who return. When Suzy Turquoise Blue shows Arthur a letter from the Upper House it confirms his task is not complete.
     Arthur still doesn't want to inherit the House, but with his mother missing, the Keys give him the power to fight back. Readers of all ages can enjoy the fantasy of the House and Nix's action-adventure, the story is aimed at Middle School readers.

Alanna

Alanna: The First Adventure by Tamora Pierce, 1983 Atheneum

     Alanna is not meant to be a great lady: she enjoys wielding a knife and the thrill of adventure. When her twin brother Thom rejects the idea of a knight for sorcery Alanna sees a chance for them to each get what they desire. At eleven the twins are sent to a convent for magic and etiquette  and to the palace for a knight's training. Two forged letters and a haircut later Thom and Alanna become Thom and Alan.
     The young lady is giddy at the prospect of enjoying her training, but worries constantly at the threat of discovery. Alan makes friends with the boys, including the Crown Prince Jonathan. These friends help when a bully decides Alan's weakness and small stature are the reason enough to pick on and heap abuse upon the new recruit. Alan's friend George Cooper, in Corus, also teaches Alanna some tricks for fighting dirty.
     The day comes when Alanna can no longer ignore her woman's body and the fear of discovery becomes even more fraught. George Cooper again comes to her rescue, this time introducing Alanna to his mother. Alanna continues to keep her secret despite the increasing difficulty.
     After several years as a page, a knight's skills are not limited to swardwork and etiquette. A magical sweating fever rips through Corus and many of the capital's important figures are sickened. When Alanna has the chance to use her magic, but doesn't and one of her friends dies, she is wracked with guilt. She uses the opportunity to save her friend and the future king when jonathan takes ill.
     With the illness Jonathan's favorite cousin and the most powerful mage returns to Corus. Alanna and the duke butt heads, and she is unreasonably distrustful of Roger's motives. When the duke begins training those knights-in-training with magic Alanna becomes even more suspicious. A challenge to the Crown Prince draws all the suspicions Alanna fells to a point when Jonathan's life hangs in the balance.
     Each moment looms with discovery of Alanna's secret. Along with each moment her skills grow to match her spirit. To become the first Lady Knight Alanna develops her personal armor along with her martial skill and hides her female-ness to become one of the boys.
     Similar to Garth Nix's Abhorsen series and Megan Whalen Turner's The Thief, Alanna is high fantasy for all ages. With some suggestive content, Alanna is a young girl growing into a woman among men.

The Moorchild

The Moorchild by Eloise McGraw, 1996 Margaret K McElderry Books

     Moql is a threat to the Moorfolk band: half-folk and half-human she cannot shift her shape or become invisible. The Folk Prince banishes her to the nearby town to replace the smith's daughter whom the Folk kidnap.
     A Changeling among her human village Moql is named Saaski by her new parents and as she grows Saaski strives to be a good human child. But she it teased, harassed, taunted and feared by the villagers and their children. Saaski only finds peace on the moor, marking her as even more different than the other village children.
     On the moor Saaski meets Tam, a young man who travels with the Tinker. He doesn't seem to fit in either and accepts Saaski for who she is, despite his occasional suspicion of her background. Tam and Saaski become fast friends and his acceptance is a balm when her only pleasure is the discovery of her human grandfather's bagpipes.
     Saaski fights her otherness and strives to fit in, but as she grows her memories of the band begin to return and Moql becomes more than a story she's made up from a dream. When the village comes down with a case of the chicken pox, things begin to go awry for the child and she begins to fully remember the Folk and their Mound.
     Saaski discovers her human emotions along with her minor Folk magics. With the discovery of her past she finds a great injustice done to these humans who have cared for her for eleven years. With the help of friends old and new, Saaski seeks to right the wrong and escape the villager's tyranny.
     An eclectic mix of faerie magic and human superstition, The Moorchild explores what happens to the changeling left behind when she really is Folk. McGraw writes for elementary readers in this historical fantasy.