(3) YA Darkest Minds series. Five years after the events of The Darkest Minds trilogy, tensions are rising around the reintegration of Psi kids into society. After a public event goes horribly wrong, Zu goes on the run with Roman and Priyanka, two mysterious Psi teens with secrets of their own. This fast-paced dystopian novel delves into very contemporary concerns of power and morality, with forthright conversations about how to effect social change.

Reviewer: Ariel Baker-Gibbs

(3) YA Darkest Minds series. This series follow-up collects three previously released novellas set in the Darkest Minds world, in which youth with extrasensory powers are imprisoned and exploited. Each story draws on series events to explore another character's parallel (or sometimes extended) experiences. Danger, injustice, and secrets provide a compelling backdrop on which to explore loss--of friends, faith, and self--and the power of empathy.

Reviewer: Claire E. Gross

(3) YA Darkest Minds series. Revolution rages in a dystopian near-future where child survivors of a virus gained extrasensory powers and were institutionalized. Multiple resistance movements converge on the search for both cure and cause of the powers (hint: the government is corrupt), with flawed, empathetic mind-manipulator Ruby at their center. Bracken skillfully juggles realistically messy politics, tense action, and fraught relationships in this gripping series conclusion.

Reviewer: Claire E. Gross

(4) YA Darkest Minds series. Caught between a post-plague government that imprisons the (now psionically gifted) surviving children in camps and a resistance movement that forces them to become weapons, Ruby searches for information about the plague's origins and cure in this second installment. Though the narrative wanders due to antagonists on all fronts, the characters are complex and the world-building engages readers with powerful questions about corruption and fear.

Reviewer: Claire E. Gross