chapter one

​The world has changed. Your powers are needed. Bring chocolate. 

I am a twelve-year-old orphan who tells fortunes. My best friends include a fire breather, a storm starter, and a potion maker. We travel together through a strange city, hoping to get back to our motherland before the Ferals find us. Because we’re awesome girls with powerful magic and bad kids want it. I’d tell you more if I trusted you. No offense but we just met. If you stick around long enough though you’ll learn about the mysterious hidden hearts, the impending carny revolution and maybe, just maybe, I’ll teach you how to read a palm.   

So, in a carnyshell, everything changed the day the adults died. The world went bonkers. The virus swept over the planet and basically wiped out anyone who already hit puberty. (It paid to be a late bloomer.) Most of the kids who managed to stay alive without parents, joined gangs. It was purely for survival. Orphans became wild, traveling in packs. But some of the gangs were mean and the leaders untrustworthy. Allegiances to cruel clubs with their bullies and henchmen were just as scary as being on your own. Luckily, I had a built-in tribe of superhero sisters: the carny girls. Our skills, smarts, and magic protected us. Or so we thought.

At first it was just me, Frankie and Sonny. We had known each other since we were little. And we couldn’t be any more different. I’m a punk kid with bleached white hair and ripped jeans. I like music, drawing, and being left alone. Oh, and I’m psychic. I read hands, cards, and tea leaves. Sometimes I consult a crystal ball that I keep in my messenger bag. I learned this all from my mom. She was psychic. And so was my grandmother. And my great grandmother. I guess it’s hereditary. And they call it a gift but I would have preferred a skateboard. Sure, it’s cool to know the future but only when the future is good.