White Cat by Holly Black

I chose this book before I realized that this is the same author who wrote the Spiderwick Chronicles. (I have only seen the movie.) I was pleasantly surprised. She also received editing/revision help from Scott Westerfield who wrote Uglies, which is another YA series that I really enjoyed.

She even has a North Carolina connection with the annual Sycamore Hill workshop, often held in Raleigh. My all time favorite NC writer, Orson Scott Card attended several of the workshops, as did Allen Wold, who is a famous Science Fiction writing mentor, both of which I have had the honor of meeting over the years. I also saw Jack McDevitt's name. Steve Berman also helped her with the book.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sycamore_Hill_Writer

http://www4.ncsu.edu/~tenshi/sychillattendees.htm

All this from just the Acknowledgements page! I really feel like I am a part of this world and want to help others enjoy it, too!