The Gathering

February 7, 2011
Armstrong follows her bestselling Darkest Powers trilogy with the first book in the intriguing new Darkness Rising trilogy, set in the same world of supernaturals with manipulated DNA. Weird things are happening to 16-year-old Maya Delaney, who lives with her adoptive parents in a privately owned medical research town on Vancouver
Island. She's good with animals—her mother found her playing fetch with a cougar when she was five—but the big cats are hanging around more than usual. Maya's attempt to get her paw print–shaped birthmark highlighted with a tattoo ends up with a Native woman calling her a witch and chasing her off. A nosy reporter's questions are less about the nearby research facility and more about which kids weren't born in town. And newly arrived bad boy Rafe suddenly starts sharing his secret past, a past sure to cause trouble for Maya. Comfortably mixing science, myth, and mystery, Armstrong creates a vivid world highlighted by appealing characters. Fans and newcomers alike will be eager for more after Armstrong's story drives to its pulse-pounding climax. Ages 12–up.

March 1, 2011
Grades 7-11 Sixteen-year-old Native American Maya Delany is the adopted child of a park ranger and a research scientist, living in a remote Vancouver Island town of 200 people. Her isolated community is centered around a medical research facility, which provides stellar education for the towns children. Maya is a star athlete and serious studentand has recently become aware of her hidden talent for communicating with wild animals, particularly mountain lions. Could this have anything to do with the paw-shaped birthmark on her right thigh? Armstrong begins her new series about skin-walkers (humans who can change into animals) with a swift-paced start, creating memorable characters and interesting premises. Maya mourns for her lifelong best friend, who died in a mysterious drowning incident; is drawn to the attractive but obviously troubled mysterious new boy in town; and tries to work out her feelings for her dead friends boyfriend, who is himself dealing with an alcoholic, abusive father. If the story lags during the inevitable chase scene, it ends poised on a cliff-hanger and ready to roll with the sequel.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)