Otter is a girl of the Shadowed People, a tribe of women, and she is born to be a binder, a woman whose power it is to tie the knots that bind the dead--but she is also destined to remake her world.

"The principle rule of alchemy: you cannot create good without also creating evil. Zilan dreams of becoming a royal alchemist, of providing for her family by making alchemical gold and gems for the wealthy to eat in order to stay young forever. But for now, she's trapped in her impoverished village in southern China, practicing an illegal form of alchemy to keep food on the table--resurrecting the dead, for a price. When Zilan finally has the chance...

Genuine Sweet, twelve, of tiny, impoverished Sass, Georgia, inherited the ability to grant any wish except her own but with help from new friends, her life and town are improving until unexpected trouble arrives and Genuine learns the difference between wishing for a better life and building one.

"When a mysterious boy washes in with the tide trapped inside the belly of a whale, Ellie must prove that he isn't ruled by the Enemy even if it means revealing her own dangerous secret"--WorldCat.