Frost, Mark. 
THE PALADIN PROPHECY
New York : Random, 2012
IL YA
ISBN 0375870458

(2 booktalks)

Booktalk #1

Will is mediocre.  School, sports, whatever he does, Will is always in the middle of the pack, per his parents' instructions.  But then he slips.  Once a test score winds up off the charts, Will is courted by an exclusive prep school, and stalked by sinister men.  When his parents disappear,Will takes refuge at the school, where he is finally able to fully test his abilities, and discover the secrets behind them.  (Isinglass Teen Award Committee, 2015)

Booktalk #2

Will West’s parents are a bit different from the parents of most fifteen-year-olds. Will’s parents don’t want him to get top grades, win his cross-country meets or even have lots of friends. Will’s parents want him to be average, to never stand out in any way! But Will isn’t average. He’s nearly a genius and he can run really fast. When Will forgets himself and accidentally gets top scores on a national exam, he suddenly gets lots of notice from the very people from whom his parents have been trying to hide him. An exclusive prep school offers Will a scholarship and black cars follow him everywhere he goes. After Will’s parents go missing, Will must accept the offer from the Center for Integrated Learning and learn who he is and just what he is capable of.   (South Carolina Young Adult Book Award, 2015,   Prepared by: Susan Adams, Spring Valley High School, suadams@richland2.org)