Fifteen-year-old Izzy Brannick comes from generations of monster hunters. Witches, vampires, faeries, werewolves-her forebears have dealt with them all, and mostly come out on top. But ever since Izzy's older sister disappeared a year ago while confronting a coven of witches, Izzy and her mother have become the last of the Brannicks. Keeping up the family business, the two of them move to a small Mississippi town to investigate a simple haunting. Naturally, nothing is quite that easy: the vengeful ghost is unusually powerful, the cute new boy in town has a mysterious aura of power around him, and homeschooled Izzy needs to learn how to make friends and survive her first high school experience. A charming and zippy paranormal mystery, Hawkins's self-contained spinoff from her Hex Hall series is built around a likeable bunch of characters including a heroine who is smart, kind, and resourceful, and a team of refreshingly non-stereotypical friends. Ace plotting, snappy dialogue, unexpected twists, and an exhilarating finale will have readers eager for more. Ages 12-18. Agent: Holly Root, Waxman Leavell Literary Agency. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
In this Hex Hall spin-off, Hawkins takes us to Ideal, Mississippi, where 15-year-old Izzy Brannick and her mother have fled to escape Izzy's sister's disappearance and Izzy's own botched attempt to slay a vampire. But Ideal is hardly the ideal small town. Instead, the high school where Izzy will soon enroll has endured a series of progressively escalating hauntings. Perhaps this is Izzy's chance to restore her reputation by solving a tragic, yet harmless, ghost visitation gone awry. Or perhaps it's just the opportunity she hasn't even known she desired: to finally have a best friend and even a boyfriend, who, by the way, might just be a Prodigium, a warlock of sorts. In true Hawkins fashion, School Spirits combines romance, intrigue, and the paranormal with humor and high-school drama to produce a light read that bodes well for another Hawkins series, this time featuring the Brannicks. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: This spinoff of the New York Times best-selling Hex Hall series should be similarly well received.--Bradburn, Frances Copyright 2010 Booklist
