The Gathering

Armstrong follows her bestselling Darkest Powers trilogy with the first book in the intriguing new Darkness Rising trilogy, set in the same world of supernaturals with manipulated DNA. Weird things are happening to 16-year-old Maya Delaney, who lives with her adoptive parents in a privately owned medical research town on Vancouver Island. She's good with animals—her mother found her playing fetch with a cougar when she was five—but the big cats are hanging around more than usual. Maya's attempt to get her paw print–shaped birthmark highlighted with a tattoo ends up with a Native woman calling her a witch and chasing her off. A nosy reporter's questions are less about the nearby research facility and more about which kids weren't born in town. And newly arrived bad boy Rafe suddenly starts sharing his secret past, a past sure to cause trouble for Maya. Comfortably mixing science, myth, and mystery, Armstrong creates a vivid world highlighted by appealing characters. Fans and newcomers alike will be eager for more after Armstrong's story drives to its pulse-pounding climax. Ages 12–up. (Apr.)