Old Magic by Marianne Curley

When a freak storm happens inside their classroom on Jarrod Thornton's first day at his new school, resident "freak" Kate Warren has her suspicions.  When an earthquake hits just the local cafe-hangout when Jarrod is there, Kate is absolutely sure.  Jarrod has magical powers, just as Kate and her grandmother Jillian do.  Seeing how ostracized Kate and Jillian are in their town, Jarrod is not eager to associate with her, especially since he doesn't believe in magic and that's all Kate wants to talk to him about.  And besides, if he has magical powers, then why is he--and his entire family--so unlucky?  For Kate the answer is obvious: the Thorton family is cursed.  Jarrod categorically rejects the idea at first, but after digging into his family history, he finds the theory impossible to ignore.  And when tragedy strikes, he cannot resist Kate's offers to help end the curse once and for all.

I loved the dynamic of this book.  The chapters alternate between Jarrod and Kate's POVs, which not only gives you a greater view of the plot, but also allows both leads the chance to develop.  Curley nails the nuances of human interaction, how people perceive each other, how they act outwardly towards each other as opposed to how they actually feel.

The plot was filled with good ideas, but it kind of fell apart for me in a few places--but to its credit, a lot of that had to do with how I felt about the characters.  For example, when Kate and Jarrod go back in time to break the curse, I felt like there were too many characters and things going on that blotted out a lot of what I loved about their relationship.  However, it was still an engaging, perfectly-paced story.  As a history nut, I was totally hooked by the setting of Thorntyne Castle, and I really appreciate how much thought Curley put into the complexities of time travel.  A great read!