Spellbinding

Gr 8 Up—Readers are likely to be familiar with the general storyline here: a 16-year-old girl who has been a gawky, invisible outsider her whole life suddenly discovers that she has magical powers and blossoms into someone "stunning" with "curves where I've never had them." In this case, the girl is Abby, and she finds out that she is the descendant of a Salem witch. She meets Rem, an enigmatic, gorgeous boy who protects her when other witches need her to help them take revenge on the people of Salem. Also in the mix are the usual suspects: an absent dad, a substitute parental figure who takes Abby under her wing, Abby's childhood crush, and a trio of mean girls. Plot contrivances run amok: a full moon, the summer solstice, midsummer night, a witches' circle, and the prom are all on the same night. Abby is described as geeky and awkward about a dozen times too many; she's another klutzy female character who feels "a sense of surrender" when kissed. The similes are frequent, unoriginal, and awkward; Rem's skin is described as looking "like butterscotch" when "the glow of late-afternoon sun" shines on it, and gossip travels through the high school "like a run through a stocking." Offensive racial stereotypes are the final straw. Stick with Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl's "Beautiful Creatures" (Little, Brown), Cassandra Clare's "Mortal Instruments" (S & S), or Sophie Jordan's "Firelight" series (HarperCollins) for paranormal romance recommendations.—Laura Lutz, Pratt Institute, New York City