The Alosha Trilogy by Christopher Pike

In Alosha, Ali Warner learns about the elementals, creatures from a parallel Earth, who plan to take over our Earth.  Ali's task is to prevent the elementals from invading.  In order to do so, Ali must learn how to awaken her powers.

Ali is 13 years old.  These books are labeled as young adult, but they read like the very bottom edge of young adult.  In particular, this first book is more like a lengthy children's book and is also not very interesting.  Ali awakens her magical powers every easily and with little effort.  There is just something missing.

Pike has stated that this trilogy was supposed to be one long book, but that the publisher broke it apart.  That could be part of the reason why the first book is lacking.

In The Shaktra, Ali enters the elemental world accompanied by a leprechaun,  a troll, and Ra, an African teen she meets in a cavern.  Ali must search for her mother, who is missing, while she seeks answers about the Shaktra, Ali's dangerous enemy.

I like this passage from page 193.

Ra's words returned to haunt her.

"A lot of times being a leader means knowing when not to do something."

"But he's wrong, if I do nothing, they'll suffer more," she told herself.

The truth was... she did not know if that was true.  To leave a dozen fairies in the wild with a mass of broken limbs was an intolerable idea.  To allow them to be changed into scaliis was equally unbearable.  The paradox hit Ali hard, as she imagined it must hit all leaders at one time or another.  She could not do the right thing because the situation was too horrible for any choice to be right.

The second book is much better than the first book.

In The Yanti, the battle for control of the world intensifies.  Ali has regained most of her magical powers, and her elemental counterpart has once again become active.  Ali has possession of the Yanti, a powerful talisman, but when Ali uses it, the talisman nearly destroys her.

The third book is also very good.  The story is left on a cliffhanger, and it is doubtful that the fourth book will ever be published.  This is the publisher's fault.  According to this reviewer and a Facebook post by Pike himself, Pike has written the fourth book, but Tor will not publish it unless the movie adaptation of Alosha is successful.  The movie adaptation has never been made, so there we go. The last book in the trilogy was published in 2006, so the prospect of seeing the fourth book is not good.  Perhaps Pike can regain the rights to the series someday and publish the next book.