The Talisman (Daughters of the Moon Series #10) by Lynne Ewing, Alessandra Balzer (Editor), Suza Scalora (Illustrator)

Product Details

Synopsis

Maggie is running out of time on this earth. And before she can name her successor, she reflects on the incredible, age-old journey that brought her to where she is. As a girl in ancient Athens, her father was a great warrior and leader of men. However, it was Maggie, known then as Penelope, who chose to battle the greatest enemy of all-the Atrox. After seeing an innocent man succumb to the Atrox and his shadowy followers, she takes a vow to help cleanse the world of its evil. But in doing so, she may have to forego the love of the great soldier, Hector, and lose her sister to the dark side.

Annotation

As Maggie reflects on the difficulty she will have with her final duty as mentor to the daughters of Moon Goddess Selene, she recalls her first battles with the evil Atrox, two thousand years earlier when she was a youth in Athens.

Beth Gallaway - VOYA

If Francesca Lia Block, Cecily Von Ziegesar, and Clemence McClaren would team up to create a series, the result might be similar to Daughters of the Moon. Selene, the Goddess of the Moon, has half-mortal, half-goddess descendents with awesome powers. They are young women who can continue an age-old fight of good versus evil. Living in present-day Los Angeles,Vanessa, Catty, Jimena, Serena, and Tianna make up a formidable fivesome who can become invisible, travel back in time, see the future, read minds, and use telekinesis, respectively. They also happen to be gifted in the arts of fashion, fighting, and flirting. Thrown into this mix are a Daughter who is tempted to the dark side, various love interests, and a ticking time bomb in that at the age of seventeen, each of the these young women must make a decision to become an immortal Goddess and disappear from this life, or decide to lose their powers forever and remain. Each novel opens with a short retelling of a myth that relates to the plot of the book. In The Choice, Book 9 of the series, Jimena, once part of a gang, must make up with an old nemesis from her gang days to fight a group of shape-shifting sirens created of Medusa's blood. In The Talisman, the tenth installment, Maggie, the mentor to the Daughters, reminisces about her youth in ancient Greece, as her time in this period grows short and the need for a replacement becomes inevitable. Although some background is presented in each new volume, to fully appreciate the growth and conflicts of the characters, one should read the series titles consecutively. The Talisman reads like a prequel, and therefore stands alone. Ewing's screenwriting background isevidenced by the fast pace and highly visual tone and also by the stereotypes and dramatic dialogue. Overall, these books are smart and sexy, multicultural and feminist, and they improve with age. The series is sure to find a following in school or public libraries. VOYA Codes: 3Q 3P M J S (Readable without serious defects; Will appeal with pushing; Middle School, defined as grades 6 to 8; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12). 2003, Hyperion, 278p., Ages 11 to 18.