Thirteen Days to Midnight

Ripping narrative. Great characters. A somewhat baffling premise.
Jacob Fielding is a "ward of the state" who has lived in a foster care system. He is now going to a Catholic school that appears to be barely hanging on to its existence. (Most students are transferring to the posh public high school in town.) His only real friend is Milo, a kid who's parents have a bizarre used book store. Jacob miraculously survives a car crash that kills his foster father. He now lives with the retired priests next to the school. Milo and Jacob befriend Ophelia, a new girl in the school. Jacob signs her cast with "you are indestructible". Shortly afterward, she hits a rock on her skateboard and takes a huge fall - which should have caused serious damage. However, she gets up without a scratch. That's when they start the think something weird is going on. They try a number of death-defying activities to verify the "power", and then use it to "save" people. However, they discover that it also has a dark side.

The characters of Jacob and Ophelia are very richly done. They don't drift in to the stereotypes of "foster kids" or "catholic school" kids. They are just "regular" kids who have the same concerns and relationship trials of teenagers. While bizarre stuff happens, that is only one part of their lives. They are contemporary teenagers, who struggle with the challenge of communicating by "texts". They have run ins with teachers, and interpersonal spats over girls and bullies.

The action and suspense make this book a real page-turner. The ending of the book somehow manages to be both "happy" and "gruesome" without feeling like a cartoon. Jacob is resigned to having a great power that he cannot use for feat of the evil it will unleash.