Charms: Book One of the Tempest Trinity Trilogy

by Leslie Calderoni

Overview

Charms is the first book in Leslie Calderoni’s Tempest Trinity, a smart new Young Adult trilogy packed with mystery, girl power, and the magic of science.

“I’m really excited to get Charms onto the shelves…With its themes of Girl Power and family bonds, it’s a fun book for a wide age range.” Anna Augason, Santa Cruz Library (Staff Pick)

Few forces are stronger than the bond of sisterhood. The laws of physics are a close second, though—at least for Emerald, Mia, and Terra, three teenagers whose talents allow them to control time, talk to people no longer living, and manipulate the string vibrations that make up the universe.

Even with these “charms,” the girls have their work cut out for them when faced with an elaborate thread of mysteries: What family secret is Mama and Auntie Eva trying to hide from them? What is Colin, the menacing boy from New Orleans, so desperately looking for here in Santa Cruz? Matters are further complicated when Emerald is blindsided by an instant and highly impractical attraction to a new boy in town. Together, the Tempest sisters must unravel these mysteries before family tensions boil over, all the while still learning the nature and extent of their powers.

Follow the Tempest sisters in Book 2, Conjures, now available in paperback and ebook!

 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780996704618
Publisher:	Leslie Calderoni
Publication date:	10/27/2015
Series:	Tempest Trinity , #1
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	190
File size:	1 MB
Age Range:	13 - 18 Years

About the Author

Leslie Calderoni grew up in Silicon Valley, and after years of working for cool companies like Electronic Arts and Google, she took her love of science and storytelling and combined them with her passion for girl power to write Charms, the first book in the Tempest Trinity trilogy. She believes that learning about science, particularly physics, is for everyone-especially strong, funny young women. She lives less than a 15-minute drive from the beaches of Santa Cruz.

Editorial Reviews

2015-12-09
Three teenage sisters with extraordinary powers explore their abilities in Calderoni's debut novel, the first in a young-adult trilogy. First-person narrator Emerald Tempest and her older sisters, Mia and Terra, have always been special, gifted with "charms," as they call them. This might seem magical to an outside observer, but according to Em, the charms are all rooted in physics. Em is able to manipulate time, making it seem to speed up or slow down. Mia can interact with different dimensions of the multiverse, "like tuning into a radio station." And Terra can both sense and alter the vibrational energy of animate and inanimate objects. The sisters live in Santa Cruz, California, with their mother. The story takes off when Em develops a crush on Ryan Laurent, a new boy in town from New Orleans. (She muses: "I've never felt about a boy the way I feel about Ryan, and this is the first time I've had to find a place inside me for the feelings and questions that come with thinking about someone in this way.") But his twin brother, Colin, threatens their burgeoning romance. A dark and moody soul, Colin becomes obsessed with finding a special book that he believes the girls' Aunt Eva has taken from their family and which holds the key to time and dimensional travel. The sisters decide to investigate whether Eva, who has a history of drifting into and out of their lives, has indeed taken the volume and why Colin is so desperate to find it. The novel has many striking attributes, including a strongly developed, likable protagonist; an engaging writing style; and a distinctive magic system. But the tale feels underdeveloped, with too many unexplained, disconnected threads. It never gives the sisters the chance to fully use their powers, making the charms feel more like window dressing than vital story components. And the plot turns Colin into such a broadly drawn baddie that he fails to register as a real person. The narrative ends abruptly on a twist that, while intriguing, makes it feel as if the last pages of the novel are missing An ambitious tale with an exuberant heroine who manipulates time but that lacks a lucid plot and believable villain.

Kirkus Reviews