The Kindling

Gr 4–8—When Conner Dell, 13, wishes that a school bully's gym shorts would catch fire and they do, it's just the first of many hints that he, his twin sister, and their friend Melanie are about to go through some strange changes. A mysterious, caped creeper ("the Stalker") begins to appear near their homes and private school. He's dark in a disturbingly soul-sucking way, and apparently only they can see him. Meanwhile, certain teachers seem to be targeting them with trumped-up demerits to force them into an after-school detention, and they begin to suspect there is a plan to kill them. Discovering that their cell phones are dead, the kids attempt a fast break but are, instead, surrounded by men in black, hooded capes brandishing metal-bladed clubs. The mysterious men are then assaulted by multicolored comets of light. When Conner notices that purple blasts of energy are coming from his coach's flailing lacrosse stick, he begins to realize that the coach is one of several teachers who share the magical mental powers that the three kids have begun to experience. From their music teacher they learn that they have recently "Kindled" and become "Adepts," Magi gifted with powers associated with light and positivity; they have already attracted the attention of the "Darkhands," with whom Magi are locked in an eternal struggle and who have a particular interest in kidnapping young Adepts. A fast-moving fantasy with plenty of psychic pyrotechnics.—Jeffrey Hastings, Highlander Way Middle School, Howell, MI