Showing results by narrator "Shiromi Arserio"

As the daughter of shopkeepers, Elena has always known that the mysteries of reading and writing are closed to her. Only the mageborn can risk harnessing the power unleashed from putting pen to paper. Until Elena discovers an impossible new ability and joins the elite ranks of the mages. But with the kingdom at war, the authorities can't agree if Elena is an asset, or a threat they need to eliminate. Thrust into the unknown world of the Royal Academy without friends or experience, Elena will need all of her wits, strength, and new power to carve a place for herself. 

Finally accepted as a mage, Elena struggles with her commonborn roots. And when disaster strikes the kingdom, she can't shrug off the death toll as the mageborn have always done. Yet the limitations of her spoken magic hold her back - both in saving lives among the people and in competitions in the Academy's arena. In desperation she turns to an unlikely source of assistance - Prince Lucas. But just as she begins to master her powers, she finds herself the pawn of stronger forces.

Even the Spoken Mage has limits to the power of her voice. Elena may be the only Spoken Mage in history, but she struggles with limitations. Unable to stockpile written workings as her mageborn year mates do, she runs the constant risk of burning out. But when the armed forces draw the third years to the front lines of their war, Elena's strength and flexibility may be necessary to keep them all alive. As Elena wrestles with how much she will sacrifice for the war, Lucas must decide how much he's willing to sacrifice for her.

In her fourth year at the Academy, Elena should be focusing on final exams and graduation. Instead, she has no choice but to stop a decades-long war - at least, if she wants any future with Lucas. But it's hard to stop a war when you're nowhere near the front lines. And an unexpected invitation - one she can't refuse - only complicates the matter further.

What do you do when you find your best friend/crush kissing your other best friend on the day you were going to declare your feelings for him? You only agree to fake date your crush's rival. The King of the Bows, popular golden (play)boy, and all around douche, Xander wouldn't be my last choice for a boyfriend. Across the school, battlelines are drawn, and sides are taken between the new "it" couple of my former best friends and the excitingly scandalous pairing of me and King Douche.

Now: Sixteen-year-old Jesse is used to living with the echoes of the past. Her older brother died in the September 11th attacks, and her dad since has filled their home with anger and grief. When Jesse gets caught up with the wrong crowd, one momentary hate-fueled decision turns her life upside down. The only way to make amends is to face the past, starting Jesse on a journey that will reveal the truth about how her brother died. Then: In 2001, 16-year-old Alia is proud to be Muslim....it's being a teenager that she finds difficult. 

At the end of the 21st century, the world has changed dramatically, but life continues 1,000 feet below the ocean's surface. In Great Britain, sea creatures swim among the ruins of Big Ben and the Tower of London, and citizens waver between fear and hope: fear of what lurks in the abyss and hope that humanity will soon discover a way to reclaim the planet. Meanwhile, 16-year-old Leyla McQueen has her own problems to deal with.

Everyone's convinced the hottest guy in school's going to ask me out - that Mason and I would be the perfect couple, that he's my John Cusack. Except, he hasn't. On holidays, I find myself hanging out with the resident underachiever, and he surprises me. With Roman, I don't have to pretend that little Piper Barlow is perfect; even if we're both in a foul mood, just sitting in silence together is perfectly enough. Until it becomes more. But, Roman doesn't do more...does he? What do you do when you accidentally find perfection with the wrong guy? You fight for it.

Princess Alyrra has always longed to escape the confines of her royal life, but when her mother betroths her to a powerful prince in a distant kingdom, she has little hope for a better future. Until Alyrra arrives at her new kingdom, where a mysterious sorceress robs her of both her identity and her role as princess - and Alyrra seizes on the opportunity to start a new life for herself as a goose girl. But as Alyrra uncovers dangerous secrets about her new world, including a threat to the prince himself, she knows she can’t remain silent forever.

Sixteen-year-old Samar - aka Sam - is an Indian American teenager whose mom has kept her away from her old-fashioned family. It’s never bothered Sam, who is busy with school, friends, and a demanding boyfriend. But things change after 9/11. A guy in a turban shows up at Sam’s house - and turns out to be her uncle.  

Chained to a rock and tossed off a cliff by her boyfriend, Aranya is executed for high treason against the Sylakian Empire. Falling a league into the deadly Cloudlands is not a fate she ever envisaged. But what if she did not die? What if she could spread her wings and fly?

In a modern world ruled by territorial Greek gods, the human race has been oppressed, exploited, and now nearly destroyed by the constant infighting of gods. However, a human girl with the power of a goddess is coming of age. Alessandra is the Oracle of Delphi - the last prophesized - and bears the mark of the double omega. Soon after she turns 18, Alessandra is told her destiny: to step between the warring gods and the human race and save her world from certain ruin.

On the heavily forested planet of Lumin, the Network has slept, dormant, for over 600 cycles. Only a select few remember that it resides beneath the crust of the planet, waiting, and for those who do, the battle for Lumin's future has raged in the shadows.

Abandoned by her mother and neglected by her scientist father, timid Elizabeth Murmur has only her fearless friend, Zenobia, for company. And Zenobia's company can be very trying! When Elizabeth's father takes them to live in his family home, Witheringe House, Zenobia becomes obsessed with finding a ghost in the creepy old mansion and forces Elizabeth to hold séances and wander the rooms at night. With Zenobia's constant pushing, Elizabeth investigates the history of the house and learns that it does hold a terrible secret.

The mind of Alessandra, the Oracle of Delphi, is under the control of the Supreme Magistrate, a brilliant politician determined to use her goddess-like powers to conquer deities and humans alike. With her thoughts and powers compromised, she begins to question her ability to stop the apocalyptic future revealed to her in cryptic visions - and who her enemy really is.

Tales are written of times ago in which Gods and Goddesses graced this world, leaving legend of great heroes - Immortals of Olympus. But if immortal they be, where are the Olympians? A young girl, already on the edge, is about to find out.

In Kami Garcia's "Burn 3", Phoenix lives in a post-apocalyptic world where the sun kills. In Melissa Marr's "Corpse Eaters", Harmony and Chris live in a world where religion spiraled out of control. The sick or disobedient are gathered to feed the corpse-eating god. In Carrie Ryan's "Miasma", Frankie lives in a world in which disease is spread not through germs but rather through "bad air" - miasma. When a deadly plague breaks out in her town, Frankie will do anything keep her sick sister from being taken by the beaked doctors who use monstrous beasts to weed out the ill.