MEDUSA

Ava and her new friends, descendants of mythological monsters, journey across ancient and modern worlds to change their fates.

Seventh grader Ava Baldwin is about to choose her favorite goddess as the topic for her report when she’s interrupted. Owen King, an arrogant white boy, talks over her to claim Athena, and after they’re assigned to share the topic, he tries to snatch her library book. “Chill out,” he tells Ava; “It’s not a big deal.” Overcome with rage, Ava’s anger explodes—and Owen freezes, remaining still as stone even as he’s taken away in an ambulance. Ava soon discovers that through her mother, she’s a descendant of the monster Medusa; like Medusa, Ava can freeze men. She’s sent to the Accademia del Forte, a boarding school in Venice, where she’ll learn to control her powers along with other kids from around the world who are descendants of mythological monsters. There, Ava shares a room with an Empusa, befriends a Chimera, and schemes with a Harpy. When her friend Fia is cruelly punished for attempting to expose injustice within the school, Ava leads her companions on a journey to restore power to those who deserve it, traveling from Tartarus, “the deepest pit of the underworld,” to Olympus, the home of the gods. Readers familiar with this genre will still find plenty of new twists to thrill and delight. Curly-haired Ava has West African and European heritage.

A fast-paced adventure offering a fresh, feminist take on popular themes.