FATE

Despite her mother’s nagging, high-school senior Bailey has no post-graduation plans: Picking a college isn’t her biggest concern, especially when the fate of the world rests on her shoulders. For readers familiar with Bailey’s first outing, Tattoo (2007), buying her awesome responsibility, which stems from her role as one of the three mythological Fates, may come easy, as the previous text fully describes the genesis of her mythological position. New readers may not find this premise as clear, especially when Bailey introduces the Nexus, a secondary world in which she spends her nights weaving society’s fate in long, italicized passages. Bailey’s age-appropriate voice helps to anchor her Otherworldly adventures in reality, imparting humor and bringing to life her well-defined relationship with her three best friends and her anxiety about their inevitable separation at graduation. Sticklers for mythological purity will wonder how the Irish Sidhe got mixed up with the Greek Fates, but those just looking for a quick read probably won’t care all that much. A fantastical and well-woven web of mythology, teenage anxiety and friendship. (Fantasy. YA)