Feeder

In the canal city of Santa Dymphna in the Pacific Northwest, 16-year-old Lori Fisher supports herself and her younger brother by hunting down alien beings called feeders with her interdimensional partner, Handler, who communicates with her via text message. While hunting feeders, which take over human bodies to gruesome effect, Lori frees a group of superpowered teenagers called the Nix; they team up to stop their captor, who has nefarious plans for them. Set in a world altered by rising sea levels, this first YA novel from Weekes (the Rogues of the Republic trilogy) is chock-full of pop culture references (one of the Nix “might have wished for Captain Marvel, but she got Professor X”) and diverse characters. Brazilian Iara uses a wheelchair, Filipino Hawk is bulletproof, and sparks fly between sharp-tongued shape-shifter Maya and ultracompetent Lori. The worldbuilding is thin, but the video-game-quick action scenes crackle with energy, and the banter among the heroes is rapid-fire as Weekes uses the action-adventure setup to explore self-acceptance, friendship, and what it means to be human. Ages 14–up. Agent: David Hale Smith, Inkwell Management. (Mar.)