Spring Reading 2014 Bobby Ether and the Academy

Bobby Ether is a fourteen-year-old basketball player when the book begins. While making a rather desperate 3-pointer, he notices the ball do something odd; it seems to get an extra push from somewhere. In the locker room after the game, he meets a mysterious woman named Cassandra. She says she's a friend of his grandfather and that she has come to take him somewhere safe. Another group is also trying to find him and take him away. Which one should he believe? He eventually winds up at a place called The Academy.

Since the advent of Harry Potter, stories about schools that train kids with special abilities have been very popular. Charlie Bone, Percy Jackson, the Seven Wonders series - they all share this similarity. And in several of these stories there are secret agendas at the school. The Academy falls into this category. On the surface it is a school with Tibetan monks training gifted youngsters to harness the energy of their connection to the universe. But if it is so benign, then why do they kidnap Bobby? Or are they actually rescuing him, as they claim? 

Ancient meditation techniques, sacred scrolls, strange elixirs, plots and more plots, field trips, bullies, detention - the school is a very busy place. And the end leaves us wondering what will happen next.

If you enjoy the stories of Harry, Percy, and the others - then you should give this a try. 

I read an e-book provided by the publisher through NetGalley. For further information, you can check out the author's website. The book was published on September 12, 2013.