Gateway Reviews

In one week, Maude will be dead. Or it will look that way, anyway. She's planned everything perfectly, down to the minute. There's no way to mess up now. In one week, she'll finally be free from her family, free to live how she wants. Free to be who she wants to be. But. Before Maude can hammer the nail into her metaphorical coffin, her cousin Frankie spots the passports. Frankie knows the Maude is planning something, some way to escape, and Frankie won't let her go--not unless Maude will let her come with. Maude didn't plan for any witnesses and she didn't plan for any mistakes. But it's too late to give up now.

Milo Connolly is a good Presbyterian boy. Nobody will make him question that. Especially not Marcos Price, the boy who broke his heart three years ago. Milo did all he could to forget Marcos and what almost was--what could never be, for a good Presbyterian boy like Milo. It wasn't hard, after Marcos ghosted him. But there's a new kid at school this year, just ready to throw a wrench in Milo's perfectly-planned, keep-your-head-down senior year, and his name just so happens to be Marcos Price. And Marcos doesn't want to forget like Milo did. But as Marcos and Milo grow close, things start to go awry—earthquakes, sinkholes, meteors—and Milo can’t help but think there might be something else, something bigger at play. Something that doesn’t want him to get close to Marcos. 

Sofi Ollenholt, daughter of Musik Ollenholt, has always known her destiny. She will follow in her father's footsteps, join the Guild of Musiks, and compose her own epics to perform before all the land--all without the aid of magic. Anyone can produce good art with the right Papers. Only a Musik can produce greatness. But before Sofi takes her father's place, she has to audition for his Apprenticeship. It should be easy for someone as dedicated as Sofi, for someone who has spent all her life preparing. But Sofi wasn't prepared for Lara.  Lara wasn't raised on music. She has never composed a song, never even played the lute before. But when she picks up the infamous Bone Lute for her audition, the song that she plays comes out perfectly. Almost as if by magic. When Sofi's father dies the same day of the audition, Sofi knows something is wrong, and without his title to inherit, she has nothing left--nothing left except an inkling of suspicion and the girl she believes

When biracial Jewish girl Ilana Lopez gets sent to live with her aunt in Prague for the summer, she knows it is a punishment. She is supposed to focus on her studies, not beach days with her friends and certainly not her music, a hobby that will never lead to a solid career.  But Prague is a city of ancient mysteries and magic, and Ilana's aunt isn't as strict as her parents might have thought. When Ilana discovers a forgotten Jewish cemetery behind her aunt's home, she knows what she has to do: restore and refresh these forgotten graves.  In this old cemetery, Ilana meets Benjamin, a boy who died almost a hundred years ago. Benjamin doesn’t remember much of his past, but he sees Ilana as hope for the future.  Benjamin isn't the only one interested in Ilana’s work. There's another man, a man without a shadow, who has heard her music and just might want her soul. If only he can snatch it.