FOILED

Veteran fantasist Yolen introduces the utterly charming and sassy Aliera, a quirky tenth-grade loner who’s both color-blind and an expert fencer, in this charming graphic novel. Aliera slinks her way through high school, focusing on fencing practice, reading and engaging in role-playing games with her cousin. When hunky Avery Castle arrives at her school, all the girls are immediately smitten, and Aliera also falls for Avery’s good looks and charm, though she tries to downplay her feelings for him. An odd turn of events throws Aliera’s routine off balance, and everything in her life she knew to be real—from a practice foil her mother bought her at a tag sale to the lothario Avery to the entire world as she knew it—is suddenly not what it appears to be. This fantastic change brings color into her life, and the drab grays that wash over Cavallaro’s panels now burst with vibrantly hued blasts. An enchanting tale, with hints of a possible continuance. For fantasy lovers, this is an absolute must-read. (Graphic fantasy. 12 & up)