Books with title The 29 Elements

From a star YA author Francesca Lia Block—an adult novel about a student, haunted by the disappearance of a friend, who must face the truth The Elementals is on one level an intriguing coming-of-age novel about a young woman, Ariel Silverman, facing the challenges of her first years away at college in Berkeley, California, while her mother battles cancer at home in Los Angeles. But the book takes on deeper, stranger meanings when we realize that Ariel is haunted by the disappearance of her best friend, Jeni, who vanished without a trace a few years before, closing Ariel's heart and changing her forever. Ariel wonders if she will ever be fully alive, until she meets three mysterious, beautiful and seductive young people living in a strange old house in the Berkeley hills. Through them Ariel will unravel the mystery of her best friend's disappearance and face a chilling choice.

A tall well dressed man walks up to me. "Hello Ella, don't be afraid, we're just here to take you back where you belong.""I don't understand." I say, my voice shaking. "I belong here, with my family and the people who love me.""But do they love you?" he asks smirking. "If they found out what you are, would they still, truly love you?" I think for a moment, faltering. But I quickly regain control of my thoughts. "Of course they would! They would love me no matter what I was!""I wouldn't be so sure." He says angrily, "but since you seem to have your mind made up, let me rephrase my sentence. You're going on vacation."As soon as he says it I feel a needle being poked into my back, then I am lifted into the air and taken to a black company vehicle, slightly down the road. I scream, kick, scratch, flail, pinch, and do every other thing I was taught to do in this situation. Until whatever is in the dart starts to take effect. This is (inconveniently) almost immediately. My head begins to feel light and heavy all at the same time, my eyes droop and I stop screaming. I let my body relax (probably not a good idea in this situation) and I feel as if I'm floating. Through my peripheral vision I notice Oliver has been picked up as well. My heart aches for my friend, if I had just listened to him, we wouldn't be in this mess.

A young man, Elwin, seeks to become an elementalist. But with war looming and an accident that could cost him his freedom, Elwin finds himself fleeing for his life and evading the Guardians of Life. The Guardians think Elwin guilty of the most grievous of crimes, and as he trains the gifts of his bloodline, he will discover a secret from long in his past.

Kate Witherspoon has lived a bohemian life with her artist parents. In 1917, the new art form of the motion picture is changing entertainment—and Kate is determined to become a director. Meanwhile, midwestern farm boy Julian Birch has inherited the wanderlust that fueled his parents’ adventures. A childhood bout with polio has left him crippled, but he refuses to let his disability define him. Strangers driven by a shared vision, Kate and Julian set out separately for Los Angeles, the city of dreams. There, they each struggle to find their independence. When they finally meet, the teenage runaways realize their true magical legacy: the ability to triumph over death, and over time. But as their powerful parents before them learned, all magic comes with a price.