Authors: Mercedes Lackey and Rosemary Edghill
Publication: Tor Teen (July 6, 2010)
Description: Who—or what—is stalking the students at Oakhurst Academy?
In the wake of the accident that killed her family, Spirit White is spirited away to Oakhurst Academy, a combination school and orphanage in the middle of Montana. There she learns she is a legacy—not only to the school, which her parents also attended, but to magic.
All the students at Oakhurst have magical powers, and although Spirit’s hasn’t manifested itself yet, the administrators insist she has one. Spirit isn’t sure she cares. Devastated by the loss of her family, she finds comfort with a group of friends: Burke Hallows, Lachlann Spears, Muirin Shae, and Adelaide Lake.
But something strange is going on at Oakhurst. Students start disappearing under mysterious circumstances, and the school seems to be trying to cover it up. Spirit and her friends must find out what’s happening—before one of them becomes the next victim…
My Thoughts: Spirit is having a difficult time. She was orphaned in a terrible car accident that killed her parents and her younger sister. She was badly injured and has spent a long time learning to walk again. Now she is told that she is a ward of people she has never met and is being sent to an orphanage/boarding school in the middle of Montana.
When she arrives, she learns that she is a "legacy" and has inherited an aptitude for magic. Her magic has not manifested and when she is tested it is not known what kind of magic she will have.
The school is an odd one too. The students are very heavily scheduled and are encouraged to compete with each others and not form friendships. There is some sort of magical threat and students regularly disappear.
Spirit and her group of friends need to keep their friendship a secret and find out what is taking students before one of them is taken. I liked the relationships between the friends. They all had very distinct personalities.
I enjoyed the adventure and the magic and recommend the book for middle graders and YAs who want to read a school story with magic.
Favorite Quote:
To top off what was turning out to be a really awful day, Mr. Wallis was in a horrible mood during karate class. Not only did he pick Spirit to come up to the front of the class to demonstrate a new form with, when she screwed up -- she had only been in the class fro a month and a half! -- he did a foot sweep that knocked her sprawling and then spent five minutes shouting at her about what a clumsy useless loser she was.Challenges: Paranormal Reading Challenge, RYOB Reading Challenge, 2010 YA Debut Author Challenge, 2010 YA Reading Challenge
This sounds like a good one! My dd is 12, I think she'll like this.
ReplyDeletePaula
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