Monica

This is a book best described as a love song to ecology and the interconnectedness of all things. Prodigal Summer weaves together three stories during one lush, vibrant summer. The characters are rich and real, and so is their world. Read it in the fall as summer fades, in the midst of winter, in the hopeful spring, or in the eponymous summer - this is a book for all seasons.

Whether or not you know the Scottish ballad that inspired this book, you'll be caught up in a mystery folded into a nostalgic college story. Janet is more than a liberal arts student - she's also a player in a supernatural showdown for the soul of her boyfriend. - Monica

Imagine a future in which history students are sent via time travel to the eras they study. At Christmas time, Kivrin is sent to the medieval era and mistakenly into the Black Plague just as illness sweeps modern-day Oxford and both centuries require the persistence of hope.