SHAKTI

Middle schooler Shakti discovers her powers.

Shakti has two moms: Pregnant Mom, who reads Black, is a microbiology Ph.D. student; Amma, Shakti’s biological mother, is a programmer and a witch from a line of Indian women closely connected to the Hindu goddess Durga Ma. Shakti hasn’t learned much magic—last time Amma taught her a spell, she accidentally summoned Kali Ma, goddess of death and destruction. After moving to Amherst, Massachusetts, Shakti quickly befriends Chinese American Xi, another new kid, but there’s a weird energy on campus. Harini, Emily, and Kelly—queen bees known collectively as HEK—misbehave with impunity and seem to have the teachers under their spell. Shakti and Xi bond with other social outcasts, but after discovering HEK performing dangerous spells in the woods, they realize that there’s something more sinister than run-of-the-mill bullying going on, putting the entire town at risk. Amma warns Shakti against trying out the magic in the spell book handed down from her ancestors, but, desperate to protect her unborn sibling, Shakti is unable to stand by—and the consequences are more than she bargained for. Ali’s luminous, expressive, jewel-toned illustrations steal the show, highlighting the broadly diverse cast and supernatural happenings. Readers will have to suspend disbelief over wild violets and fiddleheads in the New England autumn, but Sindu’s protagonist lives up to the meaning of her name, “energy of the universe,” as she learns lessons about anger, balance, courage, and compassion.

Powerful and enthralling.