Roar of the Lambs

Sixteen-year-old Winnie, a psychic medium forced to hide and downplay her magical gifts, and genderqueer, 17-year-old Apollo, recently disowned by their once wealthy family, are both searching for a place to belong. After the teens converge over an arcane artifact—the Morning Star box—in Buffalo, they’re pitted in a race to evade death, avert the apocalypse, and outwit Apollo’s greedy cousin, Cyrus, who seeks to harness the box for personal gain. Atmospheric prose builds tension with each secret unveiled across this multi-POV tale by Shea (I Am the Dark That Answers When You Call), which follows Winnie and Apollo’s sleuthing as well as a parallel 1900s timeline that traces how the Morning Star box bound their families by fate across generations. Intricate character development showcasing journeys to independence and found family reinforce the novel’s central motif of finding one’s purpose. It’s a gripping gothic mystery and a mesmerizing story of teens discovering agency that offers fresh depictions of solidarity, resilience, and decision-making against seemingly insurmountable odds. Characters are intersectionally diverse. Ages 14–up. Agent: Jennifer March Soloway, Andrea Brown Literary. (Aug.)