Shadowlark by Meagan Spooner - ESSENTIAL

Spooner, Meagan  Shadowlark, 327 pgs.  Carolrhoda Lab, 2013.  $17.95  Content: Language: PG-13 (13 swears); Mature Content: PG; Violence: PG-13.  

In this second book in the Skylark trilogy, Lark is still searching for her brother, Basil.  She has left the Iron Woods, with her friends Tansy and a robot friend, Nix.  They go into a settlement and come across a family of Shadow people-cannibalistic animals who are human during the day and don’t realize that they are monsters.  While fighting them, Oren shows up to help them, even though Lark has told him to stay away from her.  They soon find themselves under the settlement in a city that is run by magic and Tansy and Nix are taken by the police.  While there, Oren and Lark become embroiled in the politics of a rebel group in their attempts to get Tansy and Nix back.  Throughout the fight, Lark finds out more about her missing brother.  

This is a great series.  The author moves the story along quickly and the characters are easy to cheer for.  There are twists and turns throughout the book, some are predictable, but it does not make the book any less entertaining.  I’m super excited to see what Lark and Oren do in the last book of the trilogy.  

MS, HS-ESSENTIAL.  Reviewer, C. Peterson.