title: The Secret Circle: The Initiation and The Captive Part I
author:  L. J. Smith 
description: The dramatic black cover, with blood-red lettering and a close-up photo of an intense young woman with dark red lips, might suggest vampires, but the seriestitle (The Secret Circle) gives it away: here there be witches. Quiet, shy Cassie and her single mother reluctantly move from California to New Salem, Massachusetts, to take care of Cassies grandmother, who looks suspiciously witchy and seems to know an awful lot about herbs. The local high school Cassie now attends is dominated by a very exclusive group of teens known as the Club. It wont take the reader long to figure out that Club members are teen witches descended from the witches who survived the Salem witch hunts by leaving that town and starting their own. Our hapless heroine is, of course, a witch herself (though only half, as her absent father was not of that community), and in this first title in the series she begins to find her power and her position within the group. Fans of Smiths Vampire Diaries serieswill find the same basic formula here: plenty of foreshadowing, lots of action, mild creepiness, and instant infatuation. Characterization is minimal, but those seeking lightweight, mildly scary, somewhat romantic titles will gobble this up and eagerly await the sequel. Grades 7-10. --Debbie Carton
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  ## THE INITIATION
  
  
  
  
  
    
  
  
  
  
  
  ## L. J. Smith
  
  
  
  
  
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  ##### HarperTorch
  
  
  
  
  
  #### An Imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  ### BOOKS BY L. J. SMITH
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  THE VAMPIRE DIARIES
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Volume I: The Awakening
  
  
  
  
  
  Volume II: The Struggle
  
  
  
  
  
  Volume III: The Fury
  
  
  
  
  
  Volume IV: Dark Reunion
  
  
  
  
  
    
  
  
  
  
  
  THE SECRET CIRCLE TRILOGY
  
  
  
  
  
  Volume I: The Initiation
  
  
  
  
  
  Volume II: The Captive
  
  
  
  
  
  Volume III: The Power
  
  
  
  
  
    
  
  
  
  
  
  The Night of the Solstice
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Heart of Valor
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are
  products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to
  be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales,
  organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  HARPERTORCH
  
  
  
  
  
  An Imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers
  
  
  
  
  
  10 East 53rd Street
  
  
  
  
  
  New York, New Yo