The Wise and the Wicked

March 1, 2019
Sixteen-year-old Ruby Chernyavsky must decide whether to use her ancestors' magical past to lengthen her uncertain future.Ruby is proud to come from a long line of magical women. But as far as she can tell, the only power her family has left is the ability to see their Time: a flash of what they will be doing just before they die. Since age 13, Ruby has known that her life will be short, which, coupled with her mother's disappearance, plunged her into depression. Then Ruby's Great-Aunt Polina passes away long after her Time predicted, offering hope that her family's powers may allow her to extend her life. Ruby is determined to do whatever her great-aunt did--until she realizes that lengthening her own life comes at a price. Podos (Like Water, 2017, etc.) uses the simple premise of foreseeing one's own death to weave a fast-paced, nuanced study of good and evil. The book's main characters are white, two protagonists are queer, and one is trans. Ruby's character development is fascinating, although certain aspects of her personality--such as her obsession with science and her tendency to drink heavily--flicker in and out rather than driving the plot. Although the ending provides a satisfying conclusion to Ruby's story, it also leaves many strands unresolved which readers will anticipate exploring in the sequel.A page-turning mixture of magic, suspense, and queer romance that keeps readers enthralled. (Speculative fiction. 14-18)

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April 8, 2019
Like all the women in the Chernyavsky family, 16-year-old Ruby knows when she’ll die, and she knows her death date is immovable. Descended from a long line of female “healers, seers of fate, and sources of great wisdom” who were “hunted for their abilities,” Ruby’s ancestors fled Russia. In America two generations later, Ruby’s sisters use their remaining gifts to help “desperate” women under their great-aunt Polina’s guidance. Before Ruby can join them, Polina dies—long after the date her vision had predicted. Polina’s longevity spurs Ruby, who is destined to die in just over a year, and her cousin Cece, to cheat death. Fate, they learn, can be altered, but not without significant, potentially devastating sacrifice. A resonant contemporary fantasy rooted in the very real tension of familial legacy, identity (two of the novel’s central characters are queer and another is trans), and choice, this novel by Podos (The Mystery of Hollow Places) leaves much unanswered, and readers will hope for a similarly rich continuation. Ages 14–up. Agent: Lana Popovic, Chalberg & Sussma.

May 1, 2019

Gr 9 Up-A desperate search for the truth leaves 16-year-old Ruby Chernyavsky with more questions than answers as she untangles years of family lore and begins to understand that stories have more than one side. Ruby knows that the women in her family, long removed from their ancestral home in the woods in Russia, once possessed powerful magic. Ruby and her sisters grew up steeped in the family lore, stories of this magic, and the reminder to stay hidden and safe. Once in their lifetimes, the women in her family travel ahead to be in the body of their future selves at whatever age they will die. This is called their Time, and whatever they see is inevitable. But when Great-Aunt Polina dies, Ruby and her relatives learn that Polina's vision was wrong. Ruby, who has seen her Time, must know: Can she alter her fate? When she falls for a boy with family secrets of his own and begins to confide in her long-absent mother, the stories and folklore become even more complicated. Ruby questions who the real villains are in these passed-down tales. Suddenly everything becomes about finding the courage to determine her own story and what she is willing to lose as she balances choices, consequences, and risks. Podos weaves an intricate plot full of mystery and folklore that will make readers race toward the satisfying but not-yet-tied up conclusion. VERDICT A beautifully rendered story about sacrifice, vengeance, survival, secrets, and lies. Recommended for all collections.-Amanda MacGregor, Parkview Elementary School, Rosemount, MN

Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 1, 2019
Grades 9-12 Chernyavasky women have a sort of a gift: during their teenage years, each of them has a premonition of her own death. Ruby's foretold death?in a car on the way to her eighteenth-birthday party?unsurprisingly gives her a rather fatalistic attitude. But when her formidable great aunt Polina dies and Ruby learns she somehow lived much longer than her foreseen demise, she carries a glimmer of hope. With her cousin Cece, Ruby noses around in the family history, searching through books of Russian folktales and prodding her relatives for information, and none are more helpful (perhaps suspiciously so) than her recently returned, long-absent mother. In Ruby's distinctive narrative, Podos explores how family histories get twisted over time and how ancestral trauma, particularly among immigrant families, resonates among younger generations in surprising ways. Though it gets off to a somewhat sluggish start, this story ostensibly about magic, witches, and family rivalries packs unexpected depth, which is only enhanced by a compelling cast of nicely multifaceted characters and two refreshingly matter-of-fact queer romances.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)

May 1, 2019
Upon reaching adolescence, the women in Ruby Chernyavsky's matrilineal Russian American family have the power to see their own deaths. Someday?you'll be standing in our kitchen, or watching TV, or taking a shower, and then all of a sudden, you'll blink and be in the body of your future self?you're going to be whatever age you are when you die. One of Ruby's two older sisters gave her the talk when she was eleven, their mother having left when the girls were younger. Now Ruby is nearly seventeen, and Mom is back?but can she be trusted? A sense of menace runs throughout Podos's eerie, folklore-inflected tale. Her characters are well drawn; Ruby's older sisters are realistically wary of the mother who abandoned them, and the many members of their extended family enhance the Chernyavsky lore. Ruby's same-age best-friend cousin, Cece, plays a central role, as Cece falls for the mysterious (and creepy) Talia just as Ruby is falling for Talia's twin brother Dov, who is harboring a secret?and not just that his own supernatural family is a longtime enemy of the Chernyavskys from the Old Country. Issues of fatalism and family; gender identity and sexuality; heroes, villains, and the people in between are threaded throughout Podos's brooding tale. elissa gershowitz

(Copyright 2019 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

July 1, 2019
Upon adolescence, the women in Ruby Chernyavsky's matrilineal Russian American family have the power to see their own deaths. One of Ruby's older sisters gave her "the talk" when she was eleven, their mother having left when the girls were younger. Now Ruby is nearly seventeen, and Mom is back--but can she be trusted? A sense of menace runs throughout Podos's eerie, folklore-inflected tale, and her characters are well drawn.

(Copyright 2019 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)