Draw Down the Moon

January 29, 2024
Teenager Wren Nightingale has gone all her life believing that she is Mundane—a nonmagical person who was born outside of the conditions that would give her the power her late parents had. But on her 18th birthday, she realizes that she is Moonstruck, a status that allows her to attend Academia de la Luna, a school for magical youth, where she will be sorted into one of four houses: Taurus, Scorpio, Leo, or Aquarius. Accompanying her is Lee Young, her distractingly attractive childhood confidante, with whom she navigates adolescence, magical goings-on, and the Trials, challenges meant to test students’ magical abilities. When events at Academia de la Luna turn deadly, the friends must investigate a prophecy that threatens everything they know about their magic, their world, and their place within it. While this amalgamation of popular fantasy tropes by mother-daughter duo Cast (the Sisters of Salem series) seldom subverts expectations, Wren and Lee’s on-again, off-again relationship is compelling, and the open-ended resolution sows anticipation for the next installment in this lively romantasy series opener. Characters are described as having varying skin tones. Ages 12–up. Agent: Rebecca Scherer, Jane Rotrosen.

February 1, 2024
After spending her entire life without magick, a teenage girl in Oregon suddenly develops moon powers. Wren Nightingale has known about magick her whole life. Her deceased parents were Moonstruck, and so are both of her best friends, Lee Young and Samantha Hopp. But Wren, who's white, wasn't born under a full moon, and she's lived her first 17 years as a Mundane. On the night of her 18th birthday, however, she's hit by "a spear of moonlight, silver and impossibly bright," and everything changes. Lee, who's Black, was on his way to Moon Isle to spend the summer studying his powers when he stopped off to give Wren her birthday present. After their night of minor shenanigans ends with Wren being Moonstruck, instead of just one night together, they'll have the entire summer. But it's a time of trials, both in their personal lives and in their magickal abilities, because something isn't right on Moon Isle, and Wren might be in the middle of it. The story is told in Wren's and Lee's alternating viewpoints as they navigate the political world of magick, fall in love, and learn that not everything is as it seems. This series opener unfolds at a mostly steady pace, although the drama and action are punctuated by slower sections of exposition and worldbuilding, preparing readers for a much larger story to come. An easy, entertaining read. (Fantasy. 12-18)

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April 1, 2024

Gr 7 Up-Fans of the authors' House of Night and J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter" series will love this fantasy set in the Pacific Northwest. Wren is celebrating a prank with her best friend, Lee. He snaps a picture as Wren turns 18, posing in front of the soapy water fountain. After years of adjusting to having no magic, Wren feels the power of the moon awaken in her body. As she and Lee return to her uncles' house the next morning, they find Dean Rottingham from Academia de la Luna explaining how Wren will be leaving for Moon Isle and the school to begin training in her new magical powers. Her mundane (non-magical) uncles are persuaded to keep the secret of magically "moonstruck" people and allow Wren to go. As Lee, Wren, and Samantha (her other best friend) settle into school life, meet the Lunar Council, and find out about the Elemental spirits that protect the island, Wren gets strange vibes from some of the council. She starts to wonder what's really going on at the school, and what it has to do with its history, deaths, and the Elementals. As much as Wren is determined to find out the truth, Lee is determined to follow the rules. Written from alternating perspectives, this fantasy centers around characters dealing with changes in their relationship and a mystery critical to just about every aspect of their lives. VERDICT A must-have for tween and teen libraries.-Cathleen Ash

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