Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend 
Ages 9-12 (and older!) 

Morrigan Crow is cursed. At least, that’s what she’s been told her whole life. Morrigan is blamed for everything that goes wrong in her community. If a storm hits, it’s Morrigan’s fault. If the old woman that Morrigan said hello to last Tuesday suddenly dies, it’s Morrigan’s fault. So on and so forth. To top it all off, cursed children don’t live past their 11th birthday – a date that is quickly approaching.  

Morrigan leads a pretty grim existence; No one wants her around anywhere in her community, she's the shame of everyone in her family aside from her grandmother, and she's counting down to the end of her short life. But then, something strange happens... On the day where children receive bids to apprentice for their future careers, Morrigan receives an unprecedented four bids! Who could possibly want to have the cursed child so close?

One of those bids will take her to a new world, one where she won’t die on her 11th birthday, and where she will have the opportunity to join the Wunderous Society and finally have people to call family and a place to call home. But before she’ll be able to join this society, she’ll have to pass a series of challenging trials.  

I can’t tell you how much I loved this book (and its sequel Wundersmith: The Calling of Morrigan Crow). You know the feeling you had when you first read Harry Potter and you were asked to join the wizarding world? Jessica Townsend perfectly captures that same feeling as Morrigan Crow enters her new world. The world is richly depicted and includes eccentricities like a rail system that you ride with an umbrella. Not only will you root for Morrigan during her trials, but you’ll get lost in this lush world.  

The first two novels are available as eBooks through Overdrive or on your mobile device with the Libby app.