IN THE CARDS

Young people and tarot cards make an intriguing combination—especially when the first reading indicates love. Anna inherits a set of cards from an elderly neighbor and with encouragement from best friends Eve and Syd, proceeds to lead her life with new expectations and trepidation as the circumstances outlined in the cards begin to unfold and she develops a relationship with the school’s newly minted heartthrob, Declan Kelso. But the twists and turns in Anna’s road to her predetermined destiny bring on confusion, disappointment and some personal decisions, a good harbinger to a young girl’s emotional maturity. Within a ’tween-oriented, politically charged school setting and through believable characters, Fredericks creates a compelling scenario illustrating how individual actions and the choices one makes really control one’s destiny. Anna’s friendships and family responsibilities are affected in both good and bad ways, while her interpretation of the original card reading leads to some insightful reflection. Yet the lure of a second reading of the tarot cards will leave readers eager for the next installment of this new series. Very apropos for today’s middle-school crowd. (Fiction. 10-14)