Dark Star

September 1, 2012
A superhero's daughter learns the truth about an ancient evil. Audrey Whitticomb is the daughter of Morning Star, a superhero who watches over Minneapolis. While Audrey's mother has heroic physical prowess, Audrey's talents lie in what her grandmother called her Knowing, so she's never contemplated fighting crime herself. But when high school girls start going missing and turning up dead, Audrey's mother's sudden overprotectiveness clues her into a larger picture. Morning Star doesn't fight crime at all, but rather hateful entities from the Beneath, the place where the Old Race who gave super-powered humans like the Whitticombs--called Kin--their abilities, originated. Why the whole city knows her as a superhero when she doesn't actually fight crime, but supernatural creatures that generally ignore normal humans is never addressed. A Kin connection to the murders and the secrecy of Morning Star and her teleporting, college-aged sidekick Leon force Audrey to investigate for herself, using her psychic abilities. Of course, this means danger and destiny. While the prose is generally prolix, a blink-and-miss-it climax follows some nifty plot twists. The main storyline is left unresolved for sequels. Decidedly more urban fantasy than comic book, Frenette's debut features a variety of characters and should please readers looking for paranormal without so much romance. (Urban fantasy. 12-16)

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March 1, 2013

Gr 7-11-Eleventh-grader Audrey Whitticomb always assumed that her mother, Morning Star, was a typical vigilante. But after a terrifying encounter outside a local nightclub while investigating a mysterious attack on her best friend, Audrey learns the truth. She and her mother are Kin, members of a powerful ancient race that long ago adapted to life among humans. Morning Star battles Harrowers, bloodthirsty, demonic beings who covet the Kins' abilities. A war between these races is brewing, and Audrey knows her psychic powers could help turn the tables. First, though, she must shake her mother's handsome, but annoyingly overprotective sidekick. Leon follows Audrey everywhere, and she soon learns the reason for this. She alone possesses the power to save-or destroy-life as she knows it. Frenette's debut novel pairs paranormal elements with strong female characters to put a delightfully refreshing spin on the conventional superhero saga. Audrey is smart, funny, and self-sufficient, although her impulsiveness tends to get her into trouble, and even secondary characters come to life. Fans of Cassandra Clare and Karsten Knight will devour this action-packed book.-Alissa J. Bach, Oxford Public Library, MI

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 15, 2012
Grades 9-12 Audrey has a gift of knowing: gathering impressions of people and what may happen in the near future, a talent nurtured by her late grandmother. But Audrey is not the only special one in her family. Her mother is a superhero (though she prefers the term guardian) by the name of Morning Star, complete with a teleporting sidekick named Leon. Soon Audrey comes to learn that her mother is fighting more than just crime on the streets of Minneapolis, and guardian is a far more apt description than she ever realized. For those who like a healthy dose of the supernatural in their superhero origin story, this exciting, suspenseful debut is a smart choice. Frenette's thoughtful character building convincingly sells a myth-heavy story, and yet there's still time for a slow-building romance between Audrey and Leon. Though in some places the narrative plods, and tertiary characters tend to detract from the action, there's plenty for readers to enjoy here.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2013
A teenaged girl whose mother is a superhero protecting Minneapolis? Who wouldn't want to know her story? Despite this debut novel's engaging premise, the plot, which puts main character Audrey in the path of the very demons her mother strives to shield her from, moves sluggishly, and the romance that develops between Audrey and her mother's stormy sidekick Leon feels forced.

(Copyright 2013 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)