The Apprentices by Maile Meloy - ESSENTIAL

Meloy, Maile  The Apprentices, 407 pgs.  G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2013.  $16.99 

Language: PG-13 (7 swears); Mature Content: PG; Violence: PG-13 (war violence).  

Janie Scott is going to Grayson Academy and working on a desalinization science project in the mid-1950’s, when she is unfairly accused of cheating on a math exam and expelled from school.  In Janie’s attempt to finish her science project she stays near the school and lies to her parents, but she quickly finds herself kidnapped and part of a plan to draw her friend Benjamin and his alchemist father out of hiding.  All the great characters from The Apothecary come together to thwart another nuclear threat, but it comes at a great cost.  

This is the second book in The Apothecary series and it is just as entertaining and exciting as the first.  The characters have spunk and the magic makes sense.  The bad characters are as interesting as the good and the storyline moves forward at a good pace.  I love these characters and these books and can’t wait to read more about Janie and Benjamin.  

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