Rebel Belle by Rachel Hawkins

Rebel Belle by Rachel Hawkins - 346 pages

Harper was the acknowledged queen of her school when her life takes a strange turn.  During the Homecoming Dance, she is attacked and embued with the fighting powers of a paladin.  Now she has to use her new powers to protect the Oracle -- a.k.a. her high school nemesis David.

This is the first book in the Rebel Belle series.  I really enjoyed it.  It was an interesting take on the "chosen one" story.  I liked that it was the girl who got to be the fighter while still trying to live a normal high school existence.  I would definitely recommend this to those who like teen fantasy novels.  I'm hoping the next two books in the series are as good.

The Paladin Prophecy, by Mark Frost

The Paladin Prophecy (Book 1), by Mark Frost, 560 pages

Will West is just an average kid, living as average a life one can when your parents move you around every year and encourage you to never excel at anything.  All of that changes one day with the arrival of men in dark hats, an apparent brainwashing of his mother, the announcement that his test scores are so amazing he is invited to a posh private school in Wisconsin, and he finds out he can run faster than a car.  Oh, and he is seeing an invisible pilot named Dave all over. While the book feels pretty draggy and repetitive for the first 150 pages or so, when Will arrives at his new school and home, the action picks up and doesn't stop.  He meets other students like him, who secretly have awesome powers, and together they attempt to uncover the mystery of the men in dark hats, what happened to Will's parents, and what darkness is lurking at their very own school.  The length and the slow beginning might deter some teens, but others are going to latch onto this.