The Gathering

by Kelley Armstrong

Summary:
Maya has lived her entire life in a small town on Vancouver Island.  But just because it's a small town hasn't meant she's missed out. The company most of the town works for provides the best for it's employees. The best teachers for their children, the best health care for everyone. When new kid Rafe comes to town, suspicious things start to happen. Suspicious things that might just reveal that everyone in the town isn't just working for the company, everyone might just be an experiment by the company.

Review:
What I liked most about The Gathering was that although there is shape shifting and other paranormal activities, Armstrong presents them in a pretty matter of fact way. It's not glorified or really the primary focus of the book or the characters, but all of the characters find their talents revealed through their everyday activities.  I thought that the reveal of the company as this evil corporation exploiting the children of the town's gifts to be pretty predictable, but the ending still left me surprised and excited about the next book. Definitely a good read for anyone who likes supernatural fiction. There isn't a lot of romance in the book, but the relationships between the characters are still great.

Genre: Supernatural Fiction
Age Level: 8th Grade