Medusa (Myth of Monsters #1)

From National Book Award Finalist Katherine Marsh: Percy Jackson meets The Troubled Girls of Dragomir Academy in this fantastical adventure about Ava, who attends a boarding school for the descendants of Greek monsters and uncovers a terrible secret that could change the world forever.

Ava Baldwin hadn’t meant to lose her temper. But Owen King deserved it.

Ava has always tried to keep her anger in check, just like her mom taught her. But when arrogant, know-it-all classmate Owen tries to speak over her again, Ava explodes . . . and Owen freezes, becoming totally unresponsive.

He eventually recovers, but shortly afterward, Ava's parents send her to the Accademia del Forte, a boarding school in Venice that, she learns, is especially for children who are descended from mythological monsters. There, Ava and her brother, Jax, discover they are part Gorgon, and have been sent to the school to learn to control their emotions—and their powers—in hopes they will become functioning, well-adjusted members of society, unlike their loathed ancestor, Medusa.

But not everything at the Accademia is as it seems. Female monsters are especially railed against, and speaking out and speaking up are frowned upon. After her friend is almost expelled for questioning a teacher, Ava realizes the school is hiding a secret, one that could change the way the students view history . . . and themselves . . . forever.

To uncover the truth, Ava and her new friends embark on an adventure that takes them from the island where Medusa is imprisoned to the underworld, and finally to Mount Olympus, where Ava discovers the real story of her “monster” ancestor. But will Ava make it out alive to share her story with the world?