THE CRYSTAL & THE FLAME (Sifters 1)

BORN A COMMON SETTLER, Wil shouldn't be able to sift, but he can. He sees emotions in bursts of color and hears thoughts as if they were whispered into his ear. This gift has transformed his life, lifting him from the squalor of a Settler's camp to the Guardian Academy - an elite school where young Sifters train to use their power. But Wil soon learns he will never be accepted by his High Founder classmates. No matter what his accomplishments, they'll always see him as an outsider. A 'Camp Rat' with inferior blood, not worthy of the Guardian name.

UNLESS HE CAN PROVE THEM WRONG. Now sixteen and on the verge of graduation, Wil finally has that chance. Somewhere in the frozen Settlement of York, a dangerous mind is on the run. If he can track them down before his classmates do, he'll win more than bragging rights. He might finally earn some respect, maybe even a grudging nod from Astrid Blake - the beautiful but frosty daughter of the most powerful man in Neoden.

THE FOX HUNT IS ON. As Wil chases his quarry through the ruins of York, he still believes what he's been taught: that a Guardian's sacred duty is to keep the citizens of Neoden free from evil thoughts. But when he and his classmates are targeted in a deadly terrorist attack, those beliefs start to crumble. Why would the Settlers he's been sent to protect try to kill him? When a voice from the past reaches out to him with an answer, he's forced to face a terrifying possibility: maybe powerful evil still exists in the world. And maybe he's been training to serve it.