Booktalks Quick and Simple

	Lu, Marie. THE YOUNG ELITES New York : G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2014 IL YA ISBN 0399167838 (2 booktalks)
Click on the book to read Amazon reviews	Booktalk #1 As a survivor of the great blood plague of the 1340s, Adelina Amouteru is marked as a malfetto. She lost one of her eyes to the fever, and her hair and eyelashes turned silvery white. Some of the malfettos have magical powers – conjuring fire, controlling beasts, and calling the wind. They are the Young Elites, worshipped by some and hunted by others. Adelina’s father has always tried to coax special powers from her so that his marked daughter would have some value, but she has never achieved magic. That is, until the night Adelina runs away to avoid being sold to a nobleman. Her enraged father tracks her down, and in her terror Adelina accidentally murders him. But was it truly an accident? Condemned to burn at the stake, Adelina is rescued at the last moment by the Young Elites, who begin training her to join their Dagger Society and their secret mission to reclaim the throne. But Adelina has a dark secret of her own … her fragile younger sister, Violetta, is in mortal danger. Adelina is willing to exchange information for Violetta’s safety, but how long can she keep her double loyalties a secret? And what will the Young Elites do to her if they find out? This is a spellbinding high fantasy with action, betrayal, romance (and a mind-blowing Epilogue!) that will tempt fans of George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones series and Leigh Bardugo’s Grisha trilogy. (Booktalk by Pennsylvania Young Reader’s Choice Award Committee) Booktalk #2 There are no heros in this book. Adelina survived the blood fever that tore through her country, but was not unscathed; where her left eye once was, there is now a cruel scar. Her father believes that she is a malfetto, one of the abominations the fever was meant to kill but didn’t. And as much a he abuses her, he also fears her, because some of the malfettos have secret and powerful abilities; these are the Young Elites. Enter Teren, a loyal soldier whose job it is to find the Young Elites and eliminate them, before they can unite their abilities to overthrow the kingdom. But the Dagger Society works covertly against Teren to protect the Young Elites. Led by Enzo, a malfetto from the royal household, the Dagger Society finds and protects the Young Elites before they are destroyed. But when Enzo discovers and rescues Adelina, they both quickly realize that her power may surpassany seen before. And while Teren hunts those with secrets, the one he keeps may be the biggest of all. (Booktalk by Kristen Roper. Colorado Blue Spruce Award, 2016)
	SUBJECTS: Ability -- Fiction. Adventure and adventurers -- Fiction. Adventure fiction. Secret societies -- Fiction. Supernatural -- Fiction.

Lu, Marie.
THE YOUNG ELITES
New York : G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2014
IL YA
ISBN 0399167838

(2 booktalks)

Click on the book to read Amazon reviews

Booktalk #1

As a survivor of the great blood plague of the 1340s, Adelina Amouteru is marked as a malfetto. She lost one of her eyes to the fever, and her hair and eyelashes turned silvery white. Some of the malfettos have magical powers – conjuring fire, controlling beasts, and calling the wind. They are the Young Elites, worshipped by some and hunted by others. Adelina’s father has always tried to coax special powers from her so that his marked daughter would have some value, but she has never achieved magic. That is, until the night Adelina runs away to avoid being sold to a nobleman. Her enraged father tracks her down, and in her terror Adelina accidentally murders him. But was it truly an accident? Condemned to burn at the stake, Adelina is rescued at the last moment by the Young Elites, who begin training her to join their Dagger Society and their secret mission to reclaim the throne. But Adelina has a dark secret of her own … her fragile younger sister, Violetta, is in mortal danger. Adelina is willing to exchange information for Violetta’s safety, but how long can she keep her double loyalties a secret? And what will the Young Elites do to her if they find out? This is a spellbinding high fantasy with action, betrayal, romance (and a mind-blowing Epilogue!) that will tempt fans of George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones series and Leigh Bardugo’s Grisha trilogy. (Booktalk by Pennsylvania Young Reader’s Choice Award Committee)

Booktalk #2

There are no heros in this book. Adelina survived the blood fever that tore through her country, but was not unscathed; where her left eye once was, there is now a cruel scar. Her father believes that she is a malfetto, one of the abominations the fever was meant to kill but didn’t. And as much a he abuses her, he also fears her, because some of the malfettos have secret and powerful abilities; these are the Young Elites.

Enter Teren, a loyal soldier whose job it is to find the Young Elites and eliminate them, before they can unite their abilities to overthrow the kingdom. But the Dagger Society works covertly against Teren to protect the Young Elites. Led by Enzo, a malfetto from the royal household, the Dagger Society finds and protects the Young Elites before they are destroyed.

But when Enzo discovers and rescues Adelina, they both quickly realize that her power may surpassany seen before. And while Teren hunts those with secrets, the one he keeps may be the biggest of all. (Booktalk by Kristen Roper. Colorado Blue Spruce Award, 2016)

SUBJECTS:     Ability -- Fiction.
                        Adventure and adventurers -- Fiction.
                        Adventure fiction.
                        Secret societies -- Fiction.
                        Supernatural -- Fiction.