Young Adult Fantasy – The Summoning by Kelley Armstrong

The Summoning is a great first book in a young adult fantasy series called The Darkest Powers Trilogy by Kelley Armstrong, one of my most favorite fantasy writers. The story centers around a girl named Chloe Sanders who more than anything wants to have a normal life, but that’s pretty hard to do when you think you see dead people. Chloe turns 15 and suddenly begins seeing dead people. What a gift to receive for reaching puberty!

Although Chloe recently lost her mother unfortunately, her father is basically a nonexistent presence in her life. So, after running out of the school screaming because she sees dead people for the first time, she doesn’t have a support network to turn to. Everyone thinks she’s crazy, including her father and her aunt (who Chloe thought really cared for her).

Chloe soon ends up in a special home for disturbed teenagers called the Lyle House. Happy freakin’ birthday . . .

Fortunately, upon arriving at Lyle House she meets two stepbrothers who assure her that although her gift is special, it’s not completely unheard of. Others have special powers as well. As a matter of fact, Chloe learns that quite a few people at Lyle House are gifted with unique powers.

As Chloe starts to become more comfortable at Lyle House (with both the people and her new powers), she wants to use her ability to help her new friends. However, she soon stumbles upon a dilemma: although it’s obvious that most people at Lyle House have powers, they’re not discussed or practiced in public. As a matter of fact, if you’re caught using your power you’re “removed” from the school – perhaps never to be seen again.

This is especially problematic for Chloe because some of her friends are being threatened by a poltergeist and she’s just the person to take care of the situation. However one of her friends is taken away when they’re caught using their powers . . . where were they taken to?

At a dead end (no pun intended), Chloe finally begins receiving help from a dead necromancer who reveals some disturbing information. For one, he tells her that the staff at Lyle House are using devices to block his spirit. He also reveals that the former owner used to run experiments on people like Chloe – people with supernatural powers.

It appears that the folks running Lyle House are not all that they seem. Chloe begins to suspect that there is a lot more going on in Lyle House than she ever imagined.

Chloe makes it her mission to find out what’s going on and discover what happened to her missing friend. Little does she know that it will take all of her wits and the help of her friends to discover the real truth behind this secret institution.

Kelley Armstrong does a superb job fleshing out Chloe’s character. As you get to know Chloe you come to really feel for her and her situation.

The Summoning is a book anyone can enjoy but teenagers will really feel especially attuned to it since the storyline delves into real problems that exist for today’s teens. Overall, this was a thoroughly satisfying read which prompted me to read the next fantasy book in this series, The Awakening and add Book #3, The Reckoning, to my shopping list.