Love at Second Sight

Gr 7 Up–On the first day of his sophomore year, Cam wakes up as a perfectly normal human, albeit one whose new school is full of magical creatures and whose best friend is a witch named Al. At the end of the first day, Cam comes home with inadvertently activated psychic powers. Navigating his magic-phobic parents complicates Cam’s life just as much as being wooed by all the different magical factions does—wooing that includes conflicts with Al and new friends with questionable motives. As the date of the murder Cam saw in his first vision approaches, the newly assembled group of magical misfits has to work together to find answers about Cam’s rare gift and prevent the vision from coming to pass. In addition to the high school murder mystery, the relationship between Cam and Al is an excellent, relatable plotline for younger teens who are going through the sort of friendship changes that come with growing up. As with most Lukens novels, there is romance present but it remains mild and secondary to the plot. The race to save the girl from Cam’s vision moves quickly and is easy to follow, with each character’s strengths and weaknesses remaining plot-relevant throughout. There is diversity of race, gender, and sexuality among the main characters.