Tight, cliffhanging YA fiction studded with demigods and moral dilemmas.
A menagerie of supernatural forces fights for humanity’s spiritual standing.
In this YA novel, Pershing (Ordinaries, 2014, etc.) brings a vast cosmological and theological battle quite literally down to Earth. Tiamanicus, an otherworldly spirit enrolled in the legions of Lucifer—known as the Great One by his followers—finds himself shocked, cold, and struggling as he’s dragged out of a lake near the town of Inspiration, a place “swimming with demons.” This watery entrance marks the beginning of his tumultuous transition from a Whisperer, or disembodied spirit, into one of the human-seeming forms known as a Talker. While Whisperers dedicate themselves to spreading Lucifer’s influence throughout Earth by planting thoughts in the heads of humans, Talkers effect sin and corruption by their actions, using their bodies, and not merely suggestion. Placed in a household with several other Talkers, whose checkered and painful histories he’ll eventually learn, Tiamanicus, now christened Zachary Sable, pursues his task of throwing Emma Louise Green off her holy track. Protected by angelic spirits from the Christian God whom Lucifer opposes, Emma turns out to be a tough assignment. Zachary soon starts to wonder about the depth of his commitment to the mission handed to him by Zagan, a demon in Lucifer’s service. Zachary eventually becomes attracted to Emma. But Lucifer abandons Talkers who fall in love with humans, Zachary is warned; and the Great One represents the only hope for those who, like Tiamanicus and his kin, weren’t made in God’s image. Pershing has fashioned a raucous hybrid of coming-of-age tale and Miltonian epic. Marbled with a handful of plotlines that eventually unify, including a scheme by Emma to unveil the corruption of a local pastor who has been preying on young women, this story of adversity becomes complex but is strengthened by its intricate threads. Zachary encounters daunting obstacles in his new life; at one point, Emma asks him to accompany her to church (“Zachary tilted his head and thought about it. Church. Was it safe? He knew they couldn’t see him, but what if the Selfish One, the Christ, was actually there? Not even a Talker could hide”). A few themes run like currents beneath the sparkling dialogue and rapidly changing scenes, including the importance of placing one’s own happiness above official duties and the fickleness of allegiances and promises.
Tight, cliffhanging YA fiction studded with demigods and moral dilemmas.Pub Date: Aug. 15, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-9975129-0-8
Page Count: 372
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: July 12, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A passionate tale that’s not only about whales, but also about the fate of the planet.
This debut YA adventure features two teenagers whose lives intersect after an orca attack at an aquatic theme park.
Thirteen-year-old Terra Incognita Lewis has grown up in a family of scientists who study the killer whales of Washington state’s Puget Sound. She’s tried to teach the whales Morse code using a hydrophone and a drum, and recently, she dreamed of a new calf being born to the pod. As Terra and her best friend, Tiluk, wonder whether the pod’s leader, Granny, communicated this dream information to her, Terra’s parents learn of an emergency across the country in Florida. There, 14-year-old Miles Frost, along with his mother and younger sister, were at OceanLand to take in the “Lunch with Shantu” orca show. While eating, they witnessed the 12,000-pound animal kill an experienced trainer. To cope with the trauma, Miles sneaks into Shantu’s holding area before the park opens and plays music for the animal on his xylophone. Astonishingly, Shantu responds. Meanwhile, Terra and Tiluk learn from their parents that the deadly orca once belonged to the pod they’ve spent their lives studying. Terra researches the horrors that captive whales face and shares her knowledge through social media. Her communication with whales, however, has only just begun. Author Clark offers her audience doses of scientific information and spiritual richness. The depiction of the tragedy and of Puget Sound’s Southern Resident whales closely mirrors the story of Tilikum, the real-life orca whose murderous behavior features in the 2013 documentary Blackfish. The details included here (Shantu “looked like a dog who’d snatched a roast ham from the dining room table”) are sometimes shocking, though they’re necessary to deliver the full impact of Clark’s larger message. In the novel’s second half, Terra experiences a dream quest in which she learns about “The Fallacy,” “a feverish sickness” that has tricked people into believing they’re separate from nature. Although the depths of Terra’s eventual connectedness to the whales may be too abstract for younger readers, Clark goes above and beyond the call in revealing the grace inherent to all species. Wonderful black-and-white illustrations by Savory enhance the message.
A passionate tale that’s not only about whales, but also about the fate of the planet.Pub Date: June 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-945419-00-3
Page Count: 316
Publisher: Fawkes Press
Review Posted Online: Aug. 12, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A deeply affecting, valuable story and educational tool.
A debut YA novella about cyberbullying by journalist and short story writer King.
Like many teenagers, Jenna Wilson yearns to be accepted by the popular crowd at her school, Willoughby High in Australia. She naively believes that Renee, a friend from her swim team, can help her get to know Tina Scaruffi, Renee’s uber-popular cousin. When Tina and her comrade, Krissy, inexplicably begin paying attention to Jenna, she’s baffled but flattered; she also immediately starts ignoring her own lifelong friend, Alyssa. All the kids at school seem to suddenly notice Jenna, who revels in no longer feeling invisible. An invitation to a party seems like the ultimate sign of acceptance; at that event, she tries to ease her nervousness by accepting the disgusting drinks that Krissy keep pushing on her. The predictably disastrous results are only made worse when Tina and Krissy take revealing photographs of an intoxicated, half-dressed Jenna and post them all over social media. When Jenna finally has the nerve to return to school, she discovers that everyone thinks of her as “Slag Bitch,” and she longs to return to her previous invisibility. As Tina and Krissy’s bullying continues, Jenna thinks about ending the torture the only way she knows how—by drowning herself. Inspired by the real-life story of the late Canadian teenager Amanda Todd, this story puts a human face on cyberbullying, something many teens may have already learned about in school. The novella also includes supplemental lists of resources, study questions, and curriculum tie-ins for Australians. Without being preachy, the story reinforces the importance of seeking assistance, as Jenna is rescued, in more ways than one, by a favorite teacher. King crafts characters to whom readers can relate by showing not just Jenna’s unimaginable pain, but also Alyssa’s pangs of rejection as well as Jenna’s parents’ indescribable anguish. Although the Australian slang and references may prove difficult for young American readers, the Down Under setting adds an element of cool.
A deeply affecting, valuable story and educational tool.Pub Date: Sept. 12, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-9945690-1-1
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Aulexic
Review Posted Online: Oct. 4, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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