Sage, Angie.
SYREN
New York : Katherine Tegen Books, 2009
IL 3-6, RL 6.0
ISBN 0060882107

Meanwhile, Septimus is granted a special honor by Marcia Overstrand when she announces that he has been promoted to Senior Apprentice. She has decided that anyone who survives the Queste deserves the promotion. Septimus’s first senior apprentice decision is to go and retrieve Jenna, Nicko, Snorri, and Beetle from the Trading Post. On his way there, Septimus is momentarily distracted by someone calling his name on the way out there, and this is when he notices some islands. Determined to get to his brother, sister, and friends before something happens to them, he continues on the journey. After picking up Jenna and Beetle, Septimus and Spitfyre, Jenna and Beetle decide to take a dangerous flight back to the Castle. The storm they encounter is indeed treacherous and Spitfyre is mortally wounded. They land on the same island that Septimus saw on his way out. There is a strange cat lighthouse on it, an even stranger cat-like human who cares for the light house, and an old acquaintance for Septimus-Syrah Syara- a former apprentice during Septimus’s time as alchemist apprentice.

In other stories, Aunt Zelda has chosen her replacement and it is Wolf Boy. In order for Wolf Boy to take over, he must endure a queste of his own. He must travel to the Port Witches, feed the Grim, and cut off a part of the Grim to return to Zelda. On his way, he runs into Simon Heap and Lucy Gringe. In fact, Wolf Boy and Lucy Gringe find themselves wrapped into their own adventure and intersecting with Septimus.

This adventure takes them all to places they never imagined, with pirates, cat people, and treacherous people from the past, and a plot to destroy their beloved castle. And the fate of Spitfyre? What of the strange voice calling to Septimus and others? What will happen? Read and find out.   (Colorado Blue Spruce Young Adult Book Award, 2011)