Blythewood

Blythewood introduces Avaline Hall, a resilient seventeen-year-old who, after a harrowing escape from the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire, finds herself at an exclusive girls' boarding school. Ava hopes to unravel the mystery surrounding her mother's death, which seems connected to the school's dark past and the unsettling disappearances of students. As she navigates the school's secrets, Ava discovers she possesses extraordinary powers, forcing her to confront questions of identity, good versus evil, and who she can truly trust. This young adult novel blends historical fiction with supernatural mystery and a touch of romance, making it suitable for mature middle schoolers and high schoolers (ages 12-18) who enjoy suspenseful, character-driven stories with magical elements.

“Carol Goodman’s Blythewood is reminiscent of both Harry Potter and The Diviners, but in a way that doesn’t distract from the entertaining story within."* After narrowly escaping death in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire, seventeen-year-old Avaline Hall is sent to Blythewood Academy, the elite girls’ boarding school in New York’s Hudson Valley that her mother attended years before. Ava hopes to solve the mystery of her mother’s death and its connection to the students who keep disappearing from Blythewood. But the school is not all that it appears . . . and neither is the handsome young man who saved Ava from the fire. What’s the meaning of the extraordinary powers Ava possesses? Who’s good and who’s evil? And who has the right to make that distinction? *review of Blythewood by Forever Young Adult