Illusion: Chronicles of Nick
When fans last left Nick Gautier, he was fighting for his life. Again. What started with football-team zombies in Infinity (2010) continued on with demons possessing his friends in Inferno (2013), leading fed-up Nick to wish, not for the first time, for normalcy. In this latest installment in the Chronicles of Nick series, from New York Times best-selling Kenyon, he gets his wish, and it’s not at all as he expected: he’s a short blond nerd, the son of a beefy pro-football player, and nothing is as it should be. “Nothing about any of this was right or normal,” he says, upon finding his mother, once a stripper, is now a Realtor. How did he get here, and, more important, how can he get back to his old life? The details of Nick’s “new” life come in little trickles, which makes the revelations pop that much more. Kenyon writes for a mixed audience to great success, easily maintaining the excitement, intrigue, and humor of a series that appeals to guys and girls alike. Grades 7-12. --Stacey  Comfort