Moonset (The Legacy of Moonset)
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, maybe lots of times before: orphans with supernatural powers are targeted by dark forces, constantly get into trouble at school, and of course, develop crushes on “normal” teens. Yet the fact that Tracey manages to command our attention despite the familiarity of such elements is a testament to how compellingly he crafts his characters. Another thing Tracey does to distinguish our witch narrator, Justin Daggett, and his siblings from YA stereotypes is to make their parents a coven of magical “terrorists” whom the righteous witches, well, simply had to destroy. This I’m-the-offspring-of-villains theme, psychologically reminiscent of E. L. Doctorow’s The Book of Daniel (2005) and Marvel’s Runaways, lends a grittier edge to generic material that should appeal to fans of Rachel Hawkins’ Hex Hall and Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl’s Beautiful Creatures series. Sure, this first-in-series novel occasionally gets too talky as it establishes multiple intrigues and histories, but its mix of satisfyingly explaining some mysteries while raising deeper ones bodes extremely well for future installments. Grades 8-11. --Peter Gutierrez