The Eighth Day
Gr 5–7—Jax Aubrey wakes up one day to discover he is a Transitioner; a person gifted with an extra 24-hour day between Wednesday and Thursday. His guardian, Riley, is also a Transitioner, and begins to slowly introduce Jax to a secret world of magic and adventure. Jax soon realizes it's not all fun and games. Not all Transitioners are who and what they appear to be, and Riley is tasked with guarding the girl next door, a prisoner who only exists in this magical Eighth Day. The girl, Evangeline, is the key to rival Transitioners' plans to use the extra day to destroy the normal world. Only Riley, Jax, and their allies can hope to stop them. The Eighth Day is an interesting concept, and Salerni makes it work by having Jax learn, along with the reader, to navigate this extra day that is both fascinating and extremely dangerous. The concept melds Arthurian legend into present day in much the same way that Rick Riordan uses Greek and Egyptian mythology, with characters being descendents of heroes long thought to be folklore and their place in this world sometimes dependent on that lineage. There are a few points where the action stalls slightly, but in general the writing is fast paced and exciting. The story lends itself to further adventures and readers will be excited to follow Jax and eager to see what happens next.—Erik Knapp, Davis Library, Plano, TX