The Fascinators - Teenage Sam Deals With Magic and Being Gay In His Small, Conservative Town

The Fascinators by Andrew Eliopulos

Living in a small town where magic is frowned upon, Sam needs his friends James and Delia—and their time together in their school's magic club—to see him through to graduation.

But as soon as senior year starts, little cracks in their group begin to show. Sam may or may not be in love with James. Delia is growing more frustrated with their amateur magic club. And James reveals that he got mixed up with some sketchy magickers over the summer, putting a target on all their backs.

With so many fault lines threatening to derail his hopes for the year, Sam is forced to face the fact that the very love of magic that brought his group together is now tearing them apart—and there are some problems that no amount of magic can fix.

Check out this Q&A with the Andrew in Publishers Weekly, where he speaks about what it was like to bring magic to a small town like the one he grew up in, and imagining, "what it would have looked like if a person was out, but still dealing with the pressures of a conservative, religious town."

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