Ellie is a 17-year-old senior blessed with a family secret passed down through generations of her Lipan Apache ancestors. When a tragedy strikes her family, she uses both her otherworldly powers and her web of friends and family to get to the bottom of her cousin's sudden passing. The danger amps up with a climax that involves vampires, ghosts, fairies, and a basketball squad-- by the latter half, I could not put this book down! With short chapters, fun characters, a touch of magic in the everyday, and wonderful storytelling passages, this was a fast and fantastical read.

My favorite parts of the novel were the storytelling passages in which elders and family members shared stories of Ellie's ancestors, imparting necessary wisdom for Ellie's increasingly dangerous encounters: "That's why some stories are particularly important. They're more than entertainment. They're knowledge." (p.245) Although this novel was set in a stranger America, I appreciated the way the author emphasized this importance of passing down generational knowledge and ancestral connection through stories.