Thirteen-year-old Nat jumps at the chance to participate in the middle school regional theater competition where the winner gets to perform on Broadway, but when stressful rehearsals negatively impact her friendships, she starts to wonder if it is worth doing theater at all.

"Exiled to live as a Low, sixteen-year-old Conrad refuses to become heir to his murderous uncle. But Meritocracy is a harsh and unforgiving rule on the floating island of Holmstead, and when his ailing mother is killed by monstrous gorgantauns, Conrad cuts a deal to save the only family he has left. To rescue his sister from his uncle's clutches, Conrad must enter the Selection of the Twelve Trades. Hunter, the deadliest of all the Trades, gains a...