Ravenfall (Ravenfall #1)

With her psychometric power to envision deaths seen through other people’s eyes, 13-year-old Annabella Ballinkay, who is Irish, Jewish, and aromantic, feels out of step with the rest of her family. Her relations’ psychic abilities—including empathy and mind-reading—all prove more useful for running the sentient Ravenfall Inn in magic-steeped Wick, Ore., positioned “at a weak spot in the veil to the Otherworld, where spirits dwell.” Leading up to the celebration of Samhain, when the border grows even thinner, 14-year-old Colin Pierce arrives from Montana following his parents’ murder and his older brother’s disappearance. Anna recognizes him from a recent vision, and the two soon find that Colin’s family were Ravenguards, protectors of the Shield separating the realms. As Colin learns about his magic and connection to an ancient Irish being with a sinister agenda, the two must locate the killer. Alternating between Anna and Colin’s voices, Josephson (The Storm Crow) presents memorable characters in an engaging and eerie magical mystery. As emotionally rich characterizations follow olive-skinned Anna seeking to define her place among her sprawling family, and pale Colin navigating grief as the result of losing his, the novel’s quirkier aspects manifest in the house’s ever-changing layout and via Max, a powerful Jabberwocky taking the form of a mischievous black cat. Ages 10–up. Agent: Carrie Pestritto, Laura Dail Literary. (Aug.)