Shadowchild

by C.E. Thornton

A Winner of the 2010 Pearson Prize for Fiction!

Benjamina James was like any other fifteen-year-old until one day a bolt of blue lightning struck her on the soccer field. She soon finds she has strange abilities including shooting fire and lightning from her hands, and that she can blend completely into shadows without a trace. With the help of an old family friend, "Bennie" learns she has been marked as a Guardian of the Light: one of an elite branch of defenders who keep the forces of evil at bay and hidden in darkness. But as Bennie learns to develop her powers she discovers dark secrets about her newfound friends, her family, and even herself.

256 pages, Paperback

First published March 13, 2008

About the author

Caera Thornton has released three novels under her author name C.E. Thornton, and records and performs music under the name Era Thorne. After growing up in Seattle and then San Antonio, Caera currently calls the DFW-Metroplex home, where she lives in a cozy hobbit hole with her cats.

Reviews

[Lora Innes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thornton wrote this book when she was only 15 (I think.) It's a remarkable accomplishment for any young person. The prose is professionally put down on the paper, and reads cleanly and smoothly. It's a fun, imaginative adventure story about a girl from Texas who finds herself suddenly with a supernatural talent without falling into cliche superhero tropes.

[S.D. Banks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shadowchild is the first book in Thornton’s Guardian of Light series, and represents a highly entertaining venture into the difficult terrain of young adult fantasy. The plot is engaging and nicely paced, the characters believable and well-drawn. Happily, there are currently two additional books in the series, for this one leaves the reader wanting to know What Happens Next!