When Vane Weston was seven years old, a category-five tornado killed his parents but inexplicably spared his life. Ten years later, he lives in California's blistering hot Coachella Valley with his foster parents, normal teen angst, and childhood memories of a dark-haired girl. In Messenger's refreshingly clean paranormal debut, the alternating voices of Vane and Audra, the dark-haired girl, narrate the rising action. Audra is a sylph, an air elemental, and she finally reappears in Vane's life with astounding news: the world is in danger, Vane is the only one who can save it, and he is not human at all is also a sylph. With barely a week to master skills most sylphs need a lifetime to grasp (if he is to successfully fight off his unknown enemies), Vane responds to Audra's hardened guardian ways with a mixture of rebellion against and attraction to the girl who secretly has been watching over him since the tornado. While the romance may be predictable, unusual paranormal entities and strong writing should interest genre readers in search of a fresh new series.

Long after a tornado kills his parents, seventeen-year-old Vane learns why he survived: he is a powerful sylph who can manipulate the winds. With help from his secretive but alluring female protector, Vane masters his skills in preparation for an epic wind battle. Both the mythology and the frantic plot lack sound structure, but Vane stands out as an affable, crush-worthy protagonist.

A teenage boy discovers his magical heritage and falls in love with his protector. Vane Weston has no memories of his life before a tornado killed his parents, only dreams haunted by a beautiful girl. Audra's been following Vane as his assigned protector from the Gale Force. Although Vane has no memory of it, he is an air elemental, or sylph, just like Audra--in fact, he is the key piece in a war against the stock villain, a power-hungry sylph tyrant who murdered Vane's parents. Doing her duties, Audra accidentally reveals their location--in much the same way that, years ago, she unintentionally alerted enemy soldiers, called Stormers, to Audra's parents' location as they served as guardians for Vane's family. This prior accident ended in numerous casualties. Vane must awaken to his heritage and powers, mastering the languages of the four winds (one for each direction), if they are to stand a chance when the Stormers come for them. Audra has only days to train him, adding temporal tension. Chapters alternate first-person narration between Vane and Audra, with Audra's redemptive arc adding meat to the orphan-hero-discovering-his-magical-heritage storyline. While some early exposition is clunky, once the story settles into a character-driven rhythm, the prose smooths out considerably. The twists at the end are refreshing rather than cheap. Characterization elevates this romance over similar offerings in a crowded genre. (Paranormal romance. 12-17)

Seventeen-year-old Vane Weston lost his parents in a freak tornado when he was seven. While he loves his adopted parents, who live in California-s scorching Coachella Valley, he can-t shake the feeling that something about that accident doesn-t add up. Enter Audra, the gorgeous and disciplined -sylph- who saved his life and has been haunting his dreams. Audra reveals that Vane is also a sylph, a mystical creature who can control the wind, and that he-s being hunted by Raiden, a ruthless and powerful sylph. Readers learn the secrets of the sylphs, as Vane and Audra experiment with Vane-s emerging abilities and she struggles with her role as his guardian. As Messenger (Keeper of the Lost Cities) alternates between Vane and Audra-s perspectives, the story bogs down in detailed explanations about the sylph world, Vane-s training proceeds with excruciating slowness, and the romance between Vane and Audra is lackluster and predictable. The novel works best when Messenger-s characters are left to explore her vividly imagined world of wind, rather than just talk about it. Ages 13-up. Agent: Laura Rennert, Andrea Brown Literary Agency. (Mar.)

Gr 8 Up-Vane, 17, is haunted by the memory of a beautiful dark-haired girl who appeared during the tornado that killed his parents 10 years earlier. He doesn't realize he's not human until Audra appears and tells him of their shared heritage as Windwalkers, or sylphs, air elementals who can command the wind. Her father died protecting Vane from enemies called Stormers, and she blames herself for calling their attention to his family. She has taken up her father's duties and been specially selected by the Gale Force as Vane's protector. With danger imminent from Stormer warlord Raiden, she has to train Vane to harness his powers as the last of the Westerlies and master the languages of all four winds. And she must also fight her forbidden attraction to Vane, who is betrothed to the sylph princess. Told in the alternating voices of Vane and Audra and set in California's Coachella Valley, this is an interesting reversal of the usual magical girl who doesn't know she's special paranormal trope, and sylphs are a nice change from vampires, werewolves, and fairies. The story is a little slow at first, possibly because of the world-building in the beginning, and only really picks up when the pair battle the Stormers near the end. This first of a series ends with a cliff-hanger. Recommend it to Twilight fans. Kathleen E. Gruver, Burlington County Library, Westampton, NJ