Samantha Mather has just moved to Salem, Massachusetts, the site of the infamous witch trials. Sam is the descendant of Cotton Mather, the man responsible for the trials. So she almost immediately becomes the target of a group of girls called the descendants, a new generation of the witches persecuted during the trials. She soon discovers she is at the center of an ancient curse affecting anyone with ties to the trials. She must find a way to work with the descendants and an angry ghost to stop a deadly cycle and history from repeating itself.
Amy and her best friend Dee were kidnapped six years ago, but one day she returns home alone, unwilling to share anything about her experience, and she is desperate to protect her secrets no matter what. Nothing she does feels right when she tries to adjust back at home, she is a stranger in her own family. She feels guilty that she was the one to return. She soon realizes that keeping her secrets may just hurt the people she loves most. She has to go back so she can move forward, but she is risking everything.
One day, Ben’s parents soon after the police have come looking for them and rush him and his sister into the car. They say they are going on vacation, but his family never goes on vacation. Soon after, they lose the police in a car chase and they find themselves in a remote cabin in the woods. He soon discovers his parents’ secret, they took the millions of dollars accidentally deposited into their bank account and ran. He is not sure whether to think his parents are criminals, and is he one for running off with them?
LaToya goes to a mostly white school. She has no friends and even the other black kids make fun of her. One night she prays to be anything but black, and she wakes up with white skin, blond hair, and blue eyes. Then the real fun begins in this journey of self-discovery that takes shocking and hilarious twists and turns.
Janner, Igiby, Tank, and their disabled sister Leeli are gifted children living in a cottage above the Dark Sea of Darkness. But even with their gifts and the help of their mother and former pirate grandfather, they still struggle to survive as the evil Fangs of Dang pursue them and take over the land by killing anyone who stands in their way. For these children are not only special, but the Fangs believe they hold the secret to finding the legendary jewels of the former king.
Megan Henske is not a normal teen, her family owns an undertaker business, which makes her a perfect candidate to land a job at a Chicago ghost tour company. But soon she realizes her boss isn’t joking about killing people at stops to make them more haunted, and she might even help. Then come the mysterious deaths of prominent figures in the ghost tour industry, and she discovers she looks exactly like woman who disappeared in 1922. She also receives a mysterious warning that she might be the next ghost on the tour.
Life on Hayling Island seems isolated from the outside world for 14 year old Alix. Problems like terrorism, wars, and refugees seem worlds away. But one day at the beach, Alix and her friend find a drowning illegal immigrant who was tortured by the rebels in Iraq for helping the allied forces. Mohammed is desperate to not be deported and now his life falls in her hands. She must face this moral dilemma on her own, one mistake and they will be discovered.
In this futuristic novel, young Andrew Wiggin is singled out from a young age as different. He is a child of great ability; those in charge, as well as jealous peers, notice. Because of this, he is ostracized and targeted -- this hardens young Ender and prepares him for battle in Battle School. Here, he is forced to prove himself against all odds.
Overall, the book was a fast-paced, interesting read. It kept me engaged and was fun and easy to follow, but also had plenty of plot twists.
