The Pomegranate Gate

YA author Kaplan (We Are the Perfect Girl) draws readers into a bewitching folkloric world in her enthralling adult debut and Mirror Realm Cycle series launch. After the Queen of Sefarad issues an edict expelling her kingdom’s Jewish citizens, Naftaly Cresques, a tailor’s son with the secret ability to travel the dream world, smuggles a treasured book and flees, while fragile but brilliant Toba Peres escapes with her grandparents and her childhood amulet. Wolves separate Toba from the group and she follows two strange men to safety through a gate into an alternate realm where the Maziks, or magic users, reside. Trapped until the next full moon, Toba must trust wise astrologer Asmel b’ Asmoda and his charming nephew Barsilay b’Droer to protect her, both of whom are shocked to discover that Toba may have magical abilities of her own. Meanwhile, Naftaly aids Toba’s grandmother by navigating the dream world to search for Toba before they’re all discovered. The plot has a tendency to meander and then suddenly accelerate, creating some uneven pacing, but the worldbuilding is lush and exciting and the dynamics between the leads charm. (Toba and “popinjay” Barsilay have some especially choice banter.) This spells good things for the series to come. Agent: Hannah Bowman, Liza Dawson Assoc. (Sept.)