Transparent

Superpowers are a dime a dozen in the alternate Earth of Whipple’s debut novel: a Cold War antiradiation drug caused rampant mutations among its users and their progeny, and vast criminal syndicates gained dominance in the following years. Still, some powers are rarer than others: 16-year-old Fiona O’Connell is the first and only person who’s truly invisible. It’s a talent that her father, one of the syndicate leaders, is eager to exploit, and his ability to manipulate women with his pheromone-based powers helps him get his way. When he orders Fiona to kill for him, she and her telekinetically talented mother escape and try to stay undercover in an Arizona desert town. Whipple’s story starts strong but flags as Fiona slowly makes friends and becomes romantically entangled with a pair of superpowered brothers. The pace rapidly accelerates in the final chapters, but too much time is spent with Fiona fretting over exposing her new allies to danger. The novel reads more like a setup for things to come than a full-fledged story in its own right. Ages 13–up. Agent: Anna Webman, Curtis Brown. (June)