Hollowpox by Jessica Townsend

 Morrigan Crow now knows she is a Wundersmith and is starting training at the exclusive Wundersmith academy.  Even as she has her first lessons by viewing recordings of Wundersmith teachers from long ago, a terrible sickness starts affecting the Wunamils, changing them into savage and dumb beasts.  Could the new "disease" actually be a wicked plot meant to lure Morrigan into a trap set by the most evil Wundersmith of them all?

This is the third installment in the Wundersmith series.  I have enjoyed the series from the beginning, but this might be my favorite installment yet.  The first book was a fun "magical school" story.  Like the Harry Potter series, each successive book is growing in sophistication as its reader's age. I like the fact that Townsend gives Morrigan hard decisions without easy answers. At the same time, Morrigan behaves like a young teen, trying to do what is right, but not knowing exactly what that is or whom to trust. As soon as I finished the book, I looked to see if the next in the series was out.  It has been a long time since I have gotten that caught up in a middle-grade fantasy. (560 p. 2020)