Legacies

Gr 7—10—Spirit White, the sole survivor of a car accident that kills her family, finds that her parents had provided for this eventuality by making her a "legacy" of Oakhurst Boarding School for Magicians, just outside Billings, MT. There she joins others in her situation, all of whom have learned the nature of their magical (or "mage") gifts except Spirit, whose talent has not yet manifested itself. She and her friends discover the school's terrible record of "losing multiple students every year" and plot to overcome the evil force. Along the way, they IM and have pep rallies and school dances. (Another techie touch for librarians: RFID-chipped books.) This novel has a too-familiar setting and a clichéd plot. However, it's a really good read. The authors do a great job of juxtaposing a scary theme and the ordinary angst of adolescents. They also do a nice job with the metaphor of magical gifts as means of self-actualization. Legacies has enough action for reluctant readers, and enough character development for teens to see themselves in this group of friends. The book's fans are sure to eagerly await Spirit's discovery of her mage gift and further confrontations with the forces of evil.—Corinne Henning-Sachs, Walker Memorial Library, Westbrook, ME