Okay, I admit that it might sound like someone took the situation of the vampires in the Twilight saga and mixed it with Peter Pan and the Lost Boys. What would you do if you looked twelve years old forever? How would you hide it from the world? Answer: move a lot and try to find safe havens that you can return to over time. But in the increasingly digital world of security cameras, facial recognition software, and folks from Child Protective Services on the lookout for unaccompanied minors - it gets harder every year to find such a place. A boarding school makes sense because you can live there, get your meals there, and have a peer group to blend into as camouflage. If you can finesse your way through not having any parents around on move-in day and set up some fake accounts for the school to contact your guardians long distance, you just might succeed.
Unfortunately for this group, a new student at their chosen home of West Archer Academy looks remarkably like a missing member of their family. She isn't the same person. She can't be a descendant because they don't age. So how is she such a match? Intrigue swirls as the group tries to find a connection or at least a reason for the resemblance, while the object of their interest is just trying to keep her head down and follow her planned path to reaching a Supreme Court appointment as quickly as possible. It doesn't help that another classmate from her former school seems to be developing odd powers and is determined to mix himself up in the situation.
I met author Stacy McAnulty at the Children's Festival of Reading in Knoxville, Tennessee this summer. She was delightful to talk to and her session on middle grade fiction was very enlightening, but she was careful not to let any spoilers slip. I couldn't wait to get a copy of the book and find out the answers for myself. Your middle grade readers who enjoy stories based in a school setting and those that involve mysteries or mysterious powers should have a wonderful time with this book.
No comments:
Post a Comment