The Tesla Legacy

January 15, 2019
A girl discovers the migraines and seizures she has experienced since childhood might actually be a unique genetic mutation capable of bestowing spectacular powers.After being home-schooled because of her epilepsy, science geek Lucy Phelps desires everything that her senior year at a regular school promises: first love, prom, and graduation. All that becomes compromised when her attempt to repair a damaged photograph of herself as a toddler reveals a hidden message, leading her to the New Yorker Hotel and Room 3327 in search of answers. Once there, she inadvertently unlocks Nikola Tesla's secret lab, setting off a chain of events that alters the course of her year and, perhaps, the direction of her life. Murderous alchemists woven in with a Faraday cage and references to classical literature, science, and history make for a page-turning read. However, the relationship that develops between Lucy and alchemist Ravi Malik, a 21-year-old Brit of assumed Indian descent posing undercover as a high school teaching assistant, crosses professional teacher-student boundaries and feels a bit tone deaf given the story's contemporary setting. A white default is assumed for most characters, though some members of the rival alchemist factions are ethnically diverse, and Claudia, Lucy's best friend, is gay.Mostly an electrifying fantasy/sci-fi hybrid with unexpected revelations but one that unfortunately feels disconnected from the current conversations. (Science fiction. 14-18)

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March 1, 2019
Grades 9-12 Unlike many typical high-schoolers, Lucy Phelps carefully limits her sugar, caffeine, and stress?anything that could trigger her severe epilepsy. The high risk of seizures restricts her ability to drive herself to school, compete in a science fair, and even have sex with her boyfriend, Cole. One day, Lucy discovers a secret code in an old photo that leads her to a hidden lab belonging to the genius Nikola Tesla, and strange powers awake within her. She finds herself suddenly repelled by Cole, who's using her to pass physics, and pulled toward the new teaching assistant, Ravi. Ravi knows how to ground her, and he may hold the key to unlocking her electrical potential. Can Lucy trust her feelings for him, or does he see her as just another force to be controlled? P�rez (Sweet Black Waves, 2018) attempts to make a mash-up of electricity, genetics, and alchemy seem scientific. Complete with predictably evil professors as parents, Lucy's story holds few unexpected twists, but her romance with Ravi sparks pleasantly.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)