From Kirkus: 

 

THE 13TH SIGN

Author: Tubb, Kristin O'Donnell

 

Review Issue Date: November 15, 2012

Online Publish Date: October 24, 2012

Publisher: Feiwel & Friends

Pages: 272

Price ( Hardcover ): $16.99

Publication Date: January 8, 2013

ISBN ( Hardcover ): 978-0-312-58352-1

Category: Fiction

 

 

When a teen accidentally unlocks the lost 13th zodiac sign, everyone's personality shifts, and she must confront 12 Keepers of the zodiac to restore global order.

 

Visiting a fortuneteller in her hometown of New Orleans, skeptical 13-year-old Jalen finds an ancient horoscope book called The Keypers of the Zodiack. Unlocking the serpent clasp, she releases Ophiuchus, the 13th zodiac sign. Personalities suddenly shift, and chaos ensues. No longer under Sagittarius, Jalen's now ruled by Ophiuchus, who possesses tremendous healing powers humans will seek and abuse. Unless she can find and restore Ophiuchus to the heavens within 23 hours, all personality changes will be permanent. To do this, Jalen must destroy 12 Keepers who protect Ophiuchus. Armed with a new personality and forced to overcome her own fears, Jalen frantically dodges and outwits the wily, outrageous Keepers who morph out of nowhere. Scorpio stings, Gemini confuses her, Sagittarius launches arrows, Taurus tries to crush her, and Virgo plays on her emotions. Racing the clock across New Orleans, Jalen knows more is at stake than restoring altered personalities if power falls into the wrong hands. An original, action-packed plot, a resilient heroine, a twist ending and 12 sly, angry Keepers will hold readers on edge.

 

The ultimate astrological fantasy. (Fantasy. 10-14)

 

 

From Booklist:

The 13th Sign.

Tubb, Kristin O'Donnell (Author)

Jan 2013. 272 p. Feiwel and Friends, hardcover, $16.99. (9780312583521).

What would happen if there were 13 signs in the zodiac? Jalen finds out when she breaks the lock on an

old book and suddenly becomes the thirteenth sign, Ophiuchus—the snake. With the aid of her best friend

and her older brother, Jalen must outwit morphing creatures called “Keepers” who throw obstacles in her

way as she races to save her nana from dying and to learn whether her father left or was lost. To do so, she

must survive the brutal challenges of each of the 12 signs (reminiscent of the 12 labors of Hercules) to

avoid altering humanity, creating personality shifts, or causing such supernatural occurrences as an attack

by an army of Cancer crabs or the fierce charging of Aries the ram. The swiftly paced plot will please

readers used to Hunger Games–style action. Kids into astrology and horoscopes will hang on every

chapter, especially when they find out that the concept of Ophiuchus exists and is used in some beliefs.

— Julie Cummins

 

From Shelf Awareness, 1/11/13

 

Tubb (Selling Hope) turns from historical fiction to a zodiacal thriller set in New Orleans.
On her 13th birthday, Jalen goes to Madame Beausoleil in the French Quarter to have her horoscope read--an annual tradition begun with Nina, her beloved grandmother. This year, however, with Nina gravely ill, Jalen goes with her friend Ellie. After Jalen's disappointing horoscope, Ellie buys her a book to cheer her up, The Keypers of the Zodiack. In her attic, Jalen finds a pin that opens the lock on the book. Inside is a chart of the zodiac, with a sign for Ophiuchus the Snake--a 13th sign for the zodiac. No wonder Jalen's horoscope didn't resonate with her: Jalen is an Ophiuchus.

The moment Jalen departs from the attic, everyone seems different. What power has she unleashed by unlocking the book? The heroine discovers she has 23 hours in which to restore Ophiuchus to the heavens, or these bizarre changes will be permanent. Her former sign, Sagittarius, launches arrows at her, Taurus tries to quash her, and Gemini tells her that "everyone on earth has changed" as a result of Jalen's actions. Scenes of a bull (Taurus) rising from the mist, and Capricorn the goat "bobbing and weaving" down Bourbon Street make New Orleans the perfect setting for this tribe of Keepers. Tubb balances the emotional pull of Jalen's grandmother with the suspenseful quest to restore order to the zodiac. --Jennifer M. Brown, children's editor, Shelf Awareness

Discover: Jalen unwittingly unleashes a 13th sign in the zodiac when she unlocks an ancient book, and everything changes.

 

From BCCB

Tubb, Kristin O’Donnell The 13th Sign. Feiwel, 2013 [272p] ISBN 978-0-312-58352-1 $16.99 Reviewed from galleys Ad Gr. 5-8 Thirteen-year-old Jalen Jones has never quite bought into the astrological nonsense that her grandmother adores, but when Jalen accidentally unlocks the thirteenth zodiac sign, shifting the personalities of everyone around her, she’s forced to reconsider her stance. A woman claiming to be Gemini shows up on Jalen’s doorstep and informs her that unless Jalen wants the personality changes to be permanent, she has to put the cosmos back in order. To do that, Jalen has to defeat the Keepers of the eleven other zodiac signs, then find and return the Keeper of the thirteenth sign to the heavens. Oh, and, the thirteenth Keeper has magical healing properties that would cure Jalen’s beloved grandmother’s cancer, but Jalen would have to pay for such powers with her own life. Oh, and, she has to restore order and make that decision in the next twenty-three hours. It’s a lot to pack into a middle-school fantasy; the pieces don’t always mesh, and the ailing grandmother and missing father subplot is over the top. Mostly, though, this is an engaging, fast-paced adventure through both the streets of New Orleans and the astrological map of the sky. Tubb skillfully blends campiness and creepiness, imbuing the various Keepers with wonderfully snarky attitudes while calling on the darker aspects of NOLA’s more haunted areas to chill the atmosphere. Character development is at a minimum, relying mostly on the zodiac for the defining traits of both Jalen and her supporting cast. Nonetheless, readers whose daily routine involves checking their horoscopes will be similarly intrigued by Tubb’s interpretation of the stars. KQG