The Perilous Sea by Sherry Thomas

The Perilous Sea by Sherry Thomas -- 414 pages

Iolanthe and Titus are back at school after the summer and both are anxious to begin again with their plans to kill the Bane. But Titus makes a shocking discovery and suddenly their plans are blown apart, as well as their friendship.

Iolanthe can hardly stand to be around Titus, not until he stops holding his mother's diary as the end-all to every argument.

But what if the diary is wrong? Could this recent turn of events be their downfall?

The Perilous Sea is book 2 in the Elemental Trilogy.

The Burning Sky by Sherry Thomas

The Burning Sky by Sherry Thomas -- 464 pages

Iolanthe Seabourne didn't realize that calling forth a bolt of lightning would mark her as the greatest elemental mage of her time and set the Atlantians on her trail. Suddenly she finds that her life and destiny have been planned, not only by a prophecy, but by a Prince, who has been waiting his whole life for a mage--but not a girl. He is not only unprepared, but determined to have his plans realized, and that includes Iolanthe confronting and defeating the greatest mage ever known. 

Elemental by Antony John

Elemental by Antony John - 326 pages

Thom has been ostracized his entire life as the only person in the colony that does not have an element (a gift controlling a type of element - water, wind, etc).  Now he has been sent off to the hurricane shelter in the face of a terrible storm with the other children of the colony.  When they emerge they find all the adults taken by pirates.  Now the children must figure out how to survive and rescue their families.
I picked up this book as I've heard the author Antony John speak twice in the past month.  He made his books sound absolutely fascinating.  I'm glad I chose to read it.  This book is a strange mix of dystopian, fantasy, romance and adventure all mixed up with the mystery of Roanoke colony.  I'm definitely looking forward to reading the next two books in the series.