Trial of Science and Magic

In our universe, science is the law and magic is nonsense. What if it were the other way around? What if witches were revered while scientists were hunted and destroyed? Josephine Angelini takes the world and changes everything you thought was true and right in Trial by Fire. 

Lily Proctor has always been sickly. Her body runs at temps that baffle doctors, and her frequent fevers take her to heat levels no body should be able to survive. But she still clings to life, or whatever semblance of life she can with a body that hates everything you do and has an allergic reaction to everything around you. But she has always had Tristan, the boy whose dating life is the stuff of legends, and her faithful sister. When she and Tristan decide to take their relationship past the friend stage and into uncharted territory, she finally feels happy about something in her life. But she should have known better. A guy like Tristan doesn't change overnight. And with his tongue down the throat of an obnoxious underclassman, Lily begs for a change. What she didn't expect was to be ripped out of her universe and planted in a parallel one where everything she knew is different. 

In this world, people keep calling her Lillian and are surprised to see her wandering around the city alone. Then she meets the real Lillian. Her other self, the one who lives in, and runs, this world, is a witch. The head witch of this city, in fact. And she is the one who brought Lily here. Lily wants nothing to do with this woman, or her plans for Lily, but when she escapes, she walks right into the hands of the one man who trusts Lillian least, Rowan. Rowan was Lillian's chief mechanic until he severed his tie to her, and now, faced with Lily, the pain of Lillian's betrayal is almost too much to take. But his partner, Tristan, can see the difference between Lily and Lillian. This world, however, is full of dangers, like the Woven, horrible magical mistakes that tear apart anyone who dares to live outside the wall. Like it or not, Rowan has to help protect Lily since she would never survive without help. As he does, he sees her for who she truly is: Lily. Not Lillian. And she might be the key to saving Rowan's world. 

I feel like I can't do this book justice with any kind of description because it is so different, interesting, and thought-provoking. The plot itself is fast-paced but detailed enough to keep you reading at a break-neck pace, and I couldn't get enough it. Lily's transformation throughout the story was my favorite part of the story. She went from a sick girl who barely eked out a life to an all-powerful witch who had the potential to surpass her own counter part. But she was flawed. She was more grounded than Lillian because her humble life in her own universe had left her without a lifetime of greed and hunger for power, but that hunger is still deep down inside her psyche. As she connects to Rowan and her power is amplified, she struggles to keep herself from devouring his energy and hurting him because it really is all she wants to do. For a girl who couldn't even have a sip of beer at a keg party without having a seizure, the power she has now is intoxicating. This is why I loved Lily so much. She was flawed. She was greedy and hungry for power, but she was also a good enough person to stop herself and to sacrifice herself to protect others. It made her the better version of herself even though she still possessed those flaws. She is a dynamic character, and Angelini left me still reeling even days after I finished the story! 

Angelini's skill in this book didn't end with character building. Her world-building was so in tune, it left me feeling like I knew this world of magic and witches. I could see the terrifying Woven over the wall, could imagine the terrifying way the people produce their food (might make you go vegetarian), and could see the desperation in people's faces as they fought for their beliefs... in science. Imagine a world powered by witches' magics where scientists are persecuted. The scientists don't want to rely on the witches for power, but are their solutions all that much better? "Elemental science" that creates a byproduct rife with danger and instability? If there was a magical solution to our own world's energy problem, how would that be received by the scientists who believe in nuclear power despite its terrifying byproducts? This book was full of these questions, and I really believe it would get any reader to contemplate the deep, dark questions of our own universe, and to accomplish that even with witches and magic, Angelini has got to be a mad scientist herself! Or a witch! Either way, she was pretty darned brilliant, and I am dying for the next book in the series!

Half Bad and Totally Awesome

In a new England where witches live silently amongst humans, there are two kinds of witches. Even amongst the small minority, there is prejudice. White and Black, the witches do not mix. Until, they do. In Sally Green's Half Bad, a young boy is the victim of his parentage, for White or for Black. 

Nathan's father was the evilest Black witch in the world. His mother was a White witch who committed suicide. Every year, Nathan goes for an assessment to see if he has officially coded to one side or the other, but on his seventeenth birthday, the results will no longer be inconclusive. All witches must receive three gifts from an immediate family member and drink the blood of a family witch in order to come into their gifts. For a White witch, not receiving their gifts merely means they lose their opportunity for their gift. For a Black witch, it is said they will die if they do not receive their gifts. Nathan's grandmother has tried to raise him in a White witch household, but his heritage cannot be denied. 

As a Half Code (Black and White), Nathan's final allegiance is still unsettled, but the council isn't about to let him roam about like a powder keg waiting to be lit. Decree after decree is handed down that specifically limit Nathan's comings and goings. Finally, just limiting his journeys from the house aren't enough, and he is captured and caged until his seventeenth birthday, which is years away. His captor doesn't necessarily agree with the decision, but Marcus, Nathan's father, killed her sister, so she isn't shy about her dislike of Black witches either. But nothing changes the fact that Nathan's birthday is fast approaching, and he has nobody to give him his gifts. Is he Black? Or is he White?

I know we have all lived through the Harry Potter era where witches are adorable like the Weasley clan. Sure you have a Malfoy or a LeStrange or a Voldemort in the mix, but for the most part, they are normal folks with some awesome abilities. These witches? A whole different world. I half expected a Potter-esque witch story going in, but I came out like I was ripped through the spin cycle. This is one seriously dark book! I mean, this kid is tortured. He is held in a cage and affixed with a collar full of poison. This is some pretty heavy, dark business here. 

And Nathan? I am choosing to think he wouldn't be as dark as he turns out. I feel he was made Black by the very same people who feared his Half Code. By imprisoning him and torturing him, they have created a dark individual. In fact, the brutality, the violence, the dark in this story reminded me of a somewhat tamed version of The Painted Bird by Jerzy Kosinski. It is the single darkest book I have ever read (makes The Road look like Goodnight Moon), and Nathan just made me think of that little boy the entire time I read it. That doesn't mean this is THAT dark, but it certainly isn't any Harry Potter. Instead, this is a truly unique story that will catch the attention of your students. Especially those who have a dark side!

The implications towards prejudice and racism in this story are very thinly veiled. The decrees about Half Codes and Black witches reek of Jim Crow. You can see the allegory here, and it is incredibly interesting when juxtaposed with historical racism. I think any student will be able to make those connections without any guidance, which will give them an added layer to the story. I was really bowled over by this story, even though it was so disturbing, and I will certainly be finishing the series.