Rating: Very GoodHarperCollins Eos, 2008, $16.99
ISBN: 9780060739591
ISBN: 9780060739591
Age/Grade Level: Ages 10+
Fern McAllister is weird - a friendless freak, if her persecuting classmates are to be believed. Certainly, she talks to dogs, can predict the weather and spends a lot of time in trees, but Fern considers all of that to be normal behaviour and her family loves her as she is. However, on the day that she disappears during a boring English class and finds herself on a local beach, she accepts that she really is very different from the other kids at school. Soon she discovers that she has powers other than teleportation - she has the ability to move water and can listen in on conversations about herself - but these changes are outweighed in her mind by the worsening relationship that she has with her mother and brothers. As Fern reaches her lowest point, she is befriended by Lindsey Lin, the most popular girl in the school. Lindsey expalins that Fern is an "Otherworldly", the PC term for vampire, and clues her in on the background to all the strange things that have been happening.
From this point, the story is less about Fern and more about vampires and a tenuous link with Greek mythology. The ending seems rather contrived with many loose ends being tied off in a hurry, possibly leaving the door open to a sequel. The characters and their relationships made for a very strong first half to this book; the "who is good, who is evil" and "why is Fern in danger" plot twists of the second half are less appealing and - in places - confusing. For all that, the popularity of the vampire genre will attract readers to this title and the early sections will draw them in.
Reviewer: Ros Wilkes, Orange County Public Library/Mesa Verde Branch
