Cheaney effectively combines multiple layers of mystery with an uplifting message about resilience.
An intriguing mystery, a cataclysmic storm and a school bus accident converge with extraordinary results.
Nine of the students who ride Mrs. B.’s school bus are about to find their lives intersecting in unexpected ways. A new stop on their established bus route stirs little curiosity until several students notice that a passenger never appears. As seventh-grader Bender collaborates with other students in his quest for the truth, they uncover the repercussions of a tragic event that occurred nearly two decades earlier. Cheaney immediately immerses readers in the action, opening with the chaotic accident scene and then transitioning back nine months to the first day of school. Following the months of the school year, the chapters highlight different characters. Even as she drops subtle hints regarding the mystery, the author reveals the challenges the characters face. With the nine key characters in a variety of middle school grades and situations, the tale explores a range of life experiences. It addresses familiar issues, such as defining self-worth and social relationships. With compassion and insight, Cheaney also delves into the anguish that comes with watching a beloved family member decline into illness and explores the effects secrecy has on children’s lives. As events culminate in the accident, the characters must rely upon their inner resolve during a crucial turning point.
Cheaney effectively combines multiple layers of mystery with an uplifting message about resilience. (Mystery. 10-14)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4022-9297-2
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: June 17, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Light on gore and corpses; otherwise a full-bore, uncomplicated shriekfest.
Does anyone who volunteers to spend a night in a derelict haunted hotel on a dare deserve what they get?
“The hotel is hungry. And we aren’t leaving here until it’s fed.” In what reads like a determined effort to check off every trope of the genre, Alexander sends new arrival Jasmine, along with two friends and several dozen other classmates, to the long-abandoned Carlisle Hotel for the annual seventh grade Dare—touching off a night of terror presided over by the leering, autocratic Grand Dame and complete with sudden gusts and blackouts, spectral visions, evil reflections in mirrors, skeletons, a giant spider, gravity reversals, tides of oily black sludge sucking screaming middle schoolers down the drain, and so much more. (No gore, though, aside from a few perfunctory drops of blood from one small scratch.) The author saves a twist for the end, and as inducement to read alone or aloud in the dark by flashlight, both his language and the typography crank up the melodrama: “He walks toward us, past the mirror, and I see it— / a pale white face in the reflection, / a gaunt, skeletal grimace, / with sharpened teeth / and hollow black eyes, staring at him / with its mouth / wide / open / in a scream….” Jasmine presents White; her closest friends are Rohan, whose name cues him as South Asian, and Mira, who has dark skin.
Light on gore and corpses; otherwise a full-bore, uncomplicated shriekfest. (Horror. 10-13)Pub Date: Nov. 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-338-70215-6
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2021
A thrilling conclusion to a beautifully crafted, heart-stopping trilogy.
This is the moment teens Seth, Anaya, and Petra have both been anticipating and dreading ever since aliens called cryptogens began attempting to colonize the Earth: the chance to defend their planet.
In an earlier volume, Seth, Anaya, and Petra began growing physical characteristics that made them realize they were half alien. Seth has wings, Petra has a tail, and Anaya has fur. They also have the power of telepathy, which Anaya uses to converse with Terra, a cryptogen rebel looking for human allies who could help stop the invasion of Earth. Terra plans to use a virus stored in the three teens’ bodies to disarm the flyers, which are the winged aliens that are both masterminding the invasion and enslaving the other species of cryptogens known as swimmers and runners. But Terra and her allies can’t pull any of this off without the help of Anaya, Seth, and Petra. Although the trio is anxious about their abilities, they don’t have much of a choice—the entire human race is depending on them for salvation. Like its predecessors, this trilogy closer is fast-paced and well structured. Despite its post-apocalyptic setting, the story is fundamentally character driven, and it is incredibly satisfying to watch each protagonist overcome their inner battles within the context of the larger human-alien war. Main characters read as White.
A thrilling conclusion to a beautifully crafted, heart-stopping trilogy. (Science fiction. 11-14)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-984894-80-9
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Feb. 8, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2021
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