Draw Down the Moon (Moonstruck #1)

Teenager Wren Nightingale has gone all her life believing that she is Mundane—a nonmagical person who was born outside of the conditions that would give her the power her late parents had. But on her 18th birthday, she realizes that she is Moonstruck, a status that allows her to attend Academia de la Luna, a school for magical youth, where she will be sorted into one of four houses: Taurus, Scorpio, Leo, or Aquarius. Accompanying her is Lee Young, her distractingly attractive childhood confidante, with whom she navigates adolescence, magical goings-on, and the Trials, challenges meant to test students’ magical abilities. When events at Academia de la Luna turn deadly, the friends must investigate a prophecy that threatens everything they know about their magic, their world, and their place within it. While this amalgamation of popular fantasy tropes by mother-daughter duo Cast (the Sisters of Salem series) seldom subverts expectations, Wren and Lee’s on-again, off-again relationship is compelling, and the open-ended resolution sows anticipation for the next installment in this lively romantasy series opener. Characters are described as having varying skin tones. Ages 12–up. Agent: Rebecca Scherer, Jane Rotrosen. (Apr.)