Maxy Awards 2025 Runner-Up: Historical & Adventure

"Fortune's Call is superbly written. Great contrast in characters, and the historical detail is incredible. Great authenticity. Once you start reading, I dare you to put it down!" -James Robert Daniels, author of The Comanche Kid and Jane Fury

Pegg, 14, yearned for adventure. He and his father left their family on a hardscrabble farm in Vermont to chase a desperate dream. After his dad died of fever on the high plains, Pegg's confident world fell apart. He found himself saddled with their partner, Fred Hoyt, who proved worse than useless.

Now, it is up to Pegg to keep his father's dream alive. But California in the 1850's is a raw, lawless place, full of constant danger. Subsisting largely on hope, Pegg battles wild rivers, savage beasts, floods and fires. Even when the American River yields the gold that will allow Pegg to return home in triumph, Hoyt's addiction to trouble threatens not only Pegg's success, but their very lives. Can the boy who trusts too much keep his duplicitous partner from driving them to ruin?

"An entertaining romp that celebrates friendship, performance, and the controlled chaos of university life." — Kirkus Reviews

The Elephant in the Ivy is a whimsical and irreverent spy novel–of sorts–in the beautiful and mysterious New England college underground.

Alison Ashe is a junior at Bauer College. A scholarship kid, a theatre major, strapped for cash and even more strapped for time; she’s easily annoyed and something about her privileged peers really wigs her out. But unlike most of her peers, Alison has an outlet where starting on third base doesn’t do anyone any favors. Ancient and secret, Bauer is home to a spy game of sorts. A game where all that matters is that your wits are sharp and you’re willing to take big risks. And, of course, who you trust.

All proceeds for The Elephant in the Ivy are used to purchase books for classrooms. Teachers are invited to reach out to the author to participate in this program.

Praise for The Elephant in the Ivy:

"It's a real book!" -Danyelle Khmara, Arizona Public Media

"A rollicking heist of a book. Alison Ashe will trick you, and you'll thank her for it." -Grace Olsen, WMHC Radio

Written with support from Pima Open Digital Press, an open educational resource initiative at Pima Community College.

What would you trade to save the ones you love?

For Mikaila, faith is simple. When her best friend Chara is in a horrific car accident, Mikaila makes a promise to God: Chara's life for her devotion. She is determined to guide her friend back to the light.

But an old friend from her past has other plans. He's charming, intelligent, and seems to understand Mikaila better than anyone. Until charm becomes pressure. Until flattery becomes control. Mikaila finds herself trapped in a game she doesn't understand.

Chara tries to warn Mikaila before the game turns deadly. But in a world of doctored emails and masterful lies, they discover that the most dangerous predator is the one everyone trusts. A Second Chance is a faith-lit YA suspense about the dangers we don't see until they're too close, and the courage it takes to run toward the light.

For Anokhi, dance is more than art. It’s the key to finding her roots.

Since she was a child, Anokhi has been haunted by the same vivid vision: amysterious dancing woman with golden anklet bells and white flowers in her ink-black hair. Her movements are hypnotic, flowing, beautiful. But who is she? And why does Anokhi feel so connected to her?

Growing up in small-town Idaho after being adopted from India as a baby, Anokhi has always felt like an outsider, caught between cultures, between reality and her dreams. When her best friend and fellow misfit, Kale, drops out of high school, she does too. Determined to find her place in the world, Anokhi buys a one-way plane ticket to Delhi, away from the woman who raised her and away from Kale, the boy she may or may not be a little bit in love with. When Anokhi’s search for answers to her past leads her to South India, she is swept into the magical world of Indian classical dance, which takes her down unexpected paths to discover what—and who—really matters.

“When your instincts are wrong, can you ever trust them again? Only if you want to live…” –Cam Torrens, award-winning author of the Tyler Zahn suspense series

When seventeen-year-old Willow Carter and her parents head to their annual camping trip at a small Pacific Northwest beach town, the last thing they expect is to have their vacation upended and their safety threatened.

Twin Harbors State Park is all too familiar to the Carters, who have been camping there for years alongside their longtime family friends. As the two families settle into their neighboring campsites, they are greeted unexpectedly by a stranger who has no problem inserting himself into their daily activities. While her friends and family grow more and more comfortable around him, Willow has a gut instinct that something is not right.

One night, the unthinkable happens—someone tries to break into one of their tents. This is only the beginning of the dark and dangerous events that take place. Over time, Willow realizes someone she once completely trusted might be at the center of this mess, someone she wasn’t ever expecting to betray her. Eerily shocking and jaw-dropping, Gut Instinct will have readers at the edge of their seats, hoping desperately that Willow will untangle her past before it becomes too dark to decipher.

Fans of contemporary coming-of-age young adult fiction will root for Carly Klein as she fights to find her place in the world—even if she has to lie to everyone in her life to get there.
2025 International Book Awards Winner in Young Adult Fiction
2025 National Indie Excellence Award Finalist in Young Adult Fiction
Neglected by self-absorbed parents who wind up divorcing by the time she's sixteen, Carly Klein is sustained by her best friend, Lauren. But when Lauren and her family move away, Carly is forced to find new ways to entertain herself. It doesn't take her long to locate the perfect subject: her therapist mother's patients.
Carly soon becomes obsessed with one patient in particular—Daniel, a blind junior at Columbia College—and, desperate to become part of his life and knowing he'll never go for a high school girl, gets close to him by pretending to be a student at neighboring Barnard College. Becoming Carly Klein follows Carly on a roller coaster romp through the exhilaration and disappointment of first love—and the unintended consequences of disguise, deception, and discovery.

They claim I have magic. Yeah… right.

But when I touch someone, they feel better—I’m left drained.

At six-foot-four, I already stand out. Then I’m tested and accepted into Saguaro Academy for Sciences and Arts—only to find out it’s actually a school for magic. Not the ‘pick a card’ kind. The real kind. The dangerous kind.
I just want to fit in with the other girls, but I don’t even know if magic is real—let alone if I have it. I ace my classes, but Magic 101? Total disaster. Worse, something dark stirs beneath the academy’s polished halls, and I’m the only one who feels it. It’ll devour everyone here and in the nearby city when it grows strong enough.

To stop it, I must embrace a power I don’t understand or believe in. Because if I fail?

I won’t just lose myself—I’ll lose everything.

Souls & Shadows is the gripping first book in the Saguaro Magic Academy series. Join April Kane as she struggles to find a way to accept herself and find the courage to face mysterious and evil forces. Perfect for fans of The Coven: Elemental Magic and Shadowspell Academy!

I will not let the Darkness take me.

Listen. This is my story. My name is Emily and no one misses me when I disappear. Drawn to an unnatural, dead tree in the woods, I fall into a trap which changes my life forever.

There's no escape. There's no way to avoid the trials and horrorscapes I am forced to go through. It thrives off my fear. It consumes my fear. The only choice is to survive and I can't give in. For if I do, the Darkness will take me and that is a fate worse than death.

The Darkness breaks us in different ways.

However, I am not alone. There are others trapped with me, scattered throughout the infinite rooms. And one of them has known of my arrival. They've waited for me and prepared for me. They may even be the person I am destined for.

The only question is, will I be able to save the ones I love? I'm not even sure I can save myself.

In this electrifying first book in the Dark Bound series, Molly Jane creates a separate reality filled with an unforgettable heroine, an overarching evil, survival, found family, and romance. When We Walked in Shadows is a fast pace, contemporary, dark fantasy that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

The moon turned purple when the earth passed through the comet's tail, but nobody predicted the germs that would attack human sex hormones. Older teens and adults died within hours. On a small Maine island, Abby Leigh helps her brother and sister survive in this new world, but all the while she has a ticking time bomb inside her - adolescence.

1000+ 5-star reviews for The Toucan Trilogy (Night of the Purple Moon, Colony East & Generation M)
 

Stay hidden. Stay alive. Stay free.

Penny has a power people would kill to possess. Fire magic forces her to hide in the shadows of the city of Brittlekeep, her only solace a mysterious talking locket that gives her hints about her lost family. She lives a lonely, cautious existence until her discovery of a dragon’s tooth changes everything.

Brittlekeep’s master is a dark mage willing to do anything to seize Penny’s magic and her dragon’s tooth. Fleeing the city is her only recourse. But outside the city walls, her safety is hardly guaranteed.

As tales of her fire magic continue to spread and her locket is stolen, Penny soon learns that it’s not just dark mages who want to capture her. Desperate rebels are hunting her for her power. With danger closing in from all sides, can Penny outwit her pursuers and find her family, or is her freedom destined to go up in smoke?

The Moss Dragon of Brittlekeep is an exciting coming-of-age fantasy novella. If you love adventure, dragons, and tales of impossible odds, pick up The Moss Dragon of Brittlekeep!

From the bestselling author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Matilda!

George’s grandma is a grouch! She’s always mean to George (and not much nicer to his parents, either). One day, when George is put in charge of giving Grandma her medicine, he wonders if he can come up with his own remedy to try and help Grandma become less of a grump. Using some rather unusual ingredients, George creates a magic medicine, a remedy for everything. But will it stop his grandma from being so horrible . . . or will it shoot sparks out of the top of her head?!

The true enemy is about to emerge.

After escaping Perselose, Calum and Adric have been dropped into a completely unknown territory. Though they succeeded in their mission, they are far from safe. The Northern Kingdom is a mystery, and for a very good reason. There is a greater evil dwelling there, more dreadful than any they have faced before.

When Calum and some of their friends are taken, Adric has no choice but to run south with his remaining companions. Will they be able to convince The Fight to lend them the help they desperately need? In the north, the clock is ticking. Death is around every corner. Winter is coming, and if they don’t escape before then, they will all be lost.

Will they be able to face the coming darkness and survive?

Dive deeper into this fantasy world filled with magical creatures, found family, adventure, and romance!

She is different. Powerful. A soldier of centuries.

For 450 years, she was enslaved to a master of the Kore sects and forced to fight in endless battles. War, destruction, desolation – all wrought by her.
Then she escapes. Seeking revenge on her master, she turns to the only group powerful enough to help her – the Coalition.
She joins the Academy. It should be easy. But she rapidly discovers that despite her raw power, she’ll need a heart, and hers is covered in ice.
Now isn’t the time for failure, though. A spy infiltrates the Academy and tears the Coalition’s intelligence to shreds. She’s drawn into the hunt. A hunt she will not lose. For she is Axira, the most powerful spacer the galaxy will ever know.
….
Axira follows a runaway superweapon and the lieutenant who softens her ice-cold heart as they fight to save the Milky Way from her monstrous master. If you crave space opera with action, heart, and a dash of romance, grab Axira Episode One today and soar free with an Odette C. Bell series.
Axira is the 3rd Galactic Coalition Academy series. A sprawling, epic, and exciting sci-fi world where cadets become heroes and hearts are always won, each installment can be read separately, so plunge in today.

Family secrets, a power that defies science, and one girl’s fight for the truth…

Jes can't remember anything before she was found at four, barefoot in the headlights of an old Ford. At fifteen, she has adjusted to moving without notice and never fitting in. Her adopted parents insist she hide the truth about that night, but Jes can't get past how her real parents disappeared without a trace.

When Jes befriends a strange new student with an amazing power, she discovers he’s searching for a missing girl. Could she be this mystery girl and what will it mean for the family determined to protect her?

As Jes learns, truth comes at a cost. Will she give up love to find out?

Readers' Favorite 2019 Finalist

"Loved this book. I'm not normally into science fiction but this book was hard to put down." ~ Amazon Customer ★★★★★

"The book has a hint of romance, adventure and friendship and I loved it all through. Can't wait to read the sequel." ~ Amazon Customer ★★★★★

Gareth Weston feels old.

After a lifetime as a soldier, he’s retired to a quiet part of Earth where he expects to live out the rest of his days in quiet tranquility. With the universe at peace, he experiences a sense of uselessness.

Long hikes in the woods only go so far in keeping him busy and active.

But sometimes, fate isn’t content to allow obscurity to set in. When a mysterious force descends upon Earth, Gareth learns how battered his body has become. What starts off as a threat to his small community swiftly escalates as the invaders obliterate major cities.

With few chances for survival, and only a rogue doctor as an ally, Gareth must find a way to escape his home.

If you enjoy seasoned heroes, high-stakes action and stories of resilience against impossible odds, then you’ll love Too Old To Die, the complete 9-book sci-fi adventure from John Walker.

“An addictive, action-packed, scorcher of a read!” —#1 New York Times bestselling author Alyson Noël

Some shadows protect you…others will kill you in this dazzling new fantasy series from award-winning author Abigail Owen.

Everything about my life is a lie. As a hidden twin princess, born second, I have only one purpose—to sacrifice my life for my sister if death comes for her. I’ve been living under the guise of a poor, obscure girl of no standing, slipping into the palace and into the role of the true princess when danger is present.

Now the queen is dead and the ageless King Eidolon has sent my sister a gift—an eerily familiar gift—and a proposal to wed. I don’t trust him, so I do what I was born to do and secretly take her place on the eve of the coronation. Which is why, when a figure made of shadow kidnaps the new queen, he gets me by mistake.

As I try to escape, all the lies start to unravel. And not just my lies. The Shadowraith who took me has secrets of his own. He struggles to contain the shadows he wields—other faces, identities that threaten my very life.

Winter is at the walls. Darkness is looming. And the only way to save my sister and our dominion is to kill Eidolon…and the Shadowraith who has stolen my heart.

Even in the east, magic users are not safe.

In this stunning second installation of The Things of Nature, the stakes are raised. Witch hunters are converging on the kingdom of Perselose where Calum and Adric have come to stay. There are rumors in the Capital of a magic user, and the King will stop at nothing until the culprit is discovered.

Instead of trying to run, Calum and Adric join the hunt to find and rescue the magic wielder. However, their rescue mission is more difficult than any of them could have ever imagined. The palace holds many secrets which are beginning to unravel, and the danger only mounts with the King’s paranoia and increasing reward for the magic wielder’s identity.
At the same time, Calum and Adric’s feelings for each other are becoming impossible to hide.

Can Calum and Adric find each other in a kingdom both beautiful, yet deadly?

The Things of Water is a fast-paced fantasy that you will not be able to put down! Grab a copy to continue the epic adventure and enjoy this must-read of the genre!

What if you found out everything in your life was a lie?

After seventeen-year-old Emma Cross learns her mom didn’t die of cancer but was murdered, her life is upended. Forced from her home, Emma is thrown into a world hidden within our own, where Elementums—genetically engineered super soldiers who control the elements—are caught in a vicious war against the unstoppable Clinic.

Emma is convinced she doesn’t belong there—until she herself is targeted as a rare Halfbreed. If she wants to survive and uncover the dark secrets of her mom’s past, she must train to defend herself against the Clinic while resisting the distracting allure of the icy Kaden Hale—a powerful, driven Elementum with secrets of his own.

When Emma discovers a highly classified project that somehow involved her mom and could change the entire course of the war, there’s no turning back. Only three options remain: life in the Elementum world, death, or worst of all—capture.

Air and Ashes is a gripping tale of warring elements, heart-stopping romance, and devastating betrayals, perfect for fans of Jennifer L. Armentrout’s The Darkest Star and Leigh Bardugo’s Shadow and Bone.

Don’t miss your chance to join the fight against the Clinic! Go click Buy Now!

Heroes aren’t born—they’re forged in fire, water, earth, and air.

Six books and two companion stories. 2,000+ pages of magical fantasy adventure.

Targa and her three best friends have no idea what their summer vacations have in store. With each heading to a different far-flung destination, they’re sure to return with amazing tales. But their excitement turns to dread when each girl transforms into a being with ancient powers…

As Targa taps into her mermaid ancestry, the other teens embrace their supernatural destiny through fire magic, samurai spirits, and fae curses. As they battle an age-old entity immune to their collective strength, a mysterious fifth elemental is the only thing standing between victory and obliteration.

Will the girls embrace their extraordinary fate to protect the world from total annihilation?

Elemental Origins: The Complete Series is a thrilling value-packed YA fantasy boxed set. Containing five full-length novels following each character plus a sixth book that unites them all in an explosive finale. If you like modern myths, fresh heroic characters, sweet romance, and page-turning action, then you’ll love USA Today Best-selling Author A.L. Knorr’s superhuman upper young adult saga.

Buy Elemental Origins: The Complete Series and begin the adventure today!

This bundle contains:

Born of Water, The Wreck of Sybellen Diary Excerpt, Born of Fire, Born of Earth, Born of Aether, Born of Air, and The Elementals. No part of this boxed set is bonus content, all parts are necessary for the story to make sense.