Beyond The Horizon - K. J. Cloutier

Leaving is a death sentence. Staying might be worse.

For centuries, humans have hunted and killed elemists, like seventeen-year-old Emery, forcing them to hide away on an island they raised from the ocean. But now, a devastating illness is ravaging the community, including Emery's beloved sister, stripping elemists of their powers to control the elements, or simply killing them. Unless the illness can be halted, the island will fall.

Then an outsider, Tavor, lands on their shores. Though an Ungifted human, Tavor seeks to bring an end to the conflict that has been raging between elemists and his kind. He makes Emery's people an offer: send an ambassador back with him to introduce to the human world and help facilitate the beginnings of reconciliation.

When Emery has the choice to be that ambassador, she must decide: refuse Tavor's aid, remain in the safety of the island, and hope they can fight the illness before it slowly destroys her home and kills her sister, or risk exposing her people to the countless dangers of the outside world and gain not only a cure but the freedom they've been denied for so long.

The decisions made will launch Emery across oceans wrought with peril, including storms, sea monsters, and a crew of rebel elemists who wreak havoc across the seas, ensuring peace between humans and elemists remain far out of reach.

Soon, Emery must accept that truth and justice are not as clear-cut as they appear, and people are not always what they seem. Who should she trust when everyone has secrets, and the wrong choice could destroy everything she holds dear?

Moana meets Pirates of the Caribbean and Avatar: The Last Airbender in BEYOND THE HORIZON, a swashbuckling YA Fantasy featuring pirates, elemental magic, secret societies, and an enemies to lovers slow burn romance.