Wednesday 21 October 2009

YOUNG ADULT REVIEW: Gifted Series 1-3: Out of Sight, Out of Mind, Better Late than Never, Here Today Gone Tomorrow - Marilyn Kaye

BOOK BLURB:

Thirteen year old Queen-of-mean Amanda Beeson, wakes up one morning in the wrong body. She's become lonely, unfashionable Tracey Devon - one of Amanda's targets for bullying. Amanda discovers that Tracey, ignored at home and at school, has the ability to turn invisible. Amanda sets out to rescue her one-time victim from obscurity - as well as rescuing herself from Tracey's life!


REVIEW:

As a fan of supernatural series I always like to try the ones out for the Young Adult reader. Recent additions have seen the likes of Kelley Armstrong try her hand very successfully to the younger market and a friend recommended that I give these a go. They’re pretty well written and to be honest deal with a lot of every day issues for families that might not be touched in normal fiction. It’s novel, its interesting and above all its engaging without having the author talk down to the reader. A great series to introduce a magical element to the younger reader as well as allowing them to have a voice for concerns of their generation making this a great offering and a series I’ll endeavour to follow.



BOOK BLURB:

Goth girl Jenna Kelley has the ultimate tool to stage a teenage rebellion: she can read people's minds without even trying. When her alcoholic mother is hospitalized, a stranger shows up who says he's her long-lost dad and promises a better future. Too good to be true? Her gifted classmates think so, but Jenna is so determined to have a real parent around and a somewhat normal life that she might have lost her ability to listen.


REVIEW:

The second novel by Marilyn that really does take the reader by the hand and present them with a tale that’s magical as well as emotively positive. A great offering and if I’m going to be blunt has made this a series that is going to be a must own. Not only is the plot crisp but the characters are well rounded with each subsequent novel in the series following a different one from their own POV. A masterful stroke by the author and one that ensures everyone’s voice gets the chance to endear them to the reader with the only argument arising from fans being which character is going to be next. A great series in all.



BOOK BLURB:

These students look like the others, but each of them has a special supernatural attribute that marks them out. You could call it a skill, a talent or a disadvantage, but each of these students is unique - they're gifted. Shy, dreamy Emily's premonitions aren't always quite right, and the gifted class usually don't take her seriously. But as Emily's visions get clearer, her classmates are forced to listen to her - before it's too late...


REVIEW:

Having read and enjoyed the previous two offerings in the series I thought that I’d best get a crack on with this novel sooner rather than later and what I got was a tale that not only did what it said on the tin but presented the cast and characters in a light that demonstrated that power has responsibilities. It’s a wild adventure and bound up with character growth, friendship and a moral lesson or two for the characters that aids them in their path to the future. A lot of fun and whilst its not bringing anything new to the fore that the previous two novel’s have its idealistic material to help demonstrate the positive aspects of mankind’s attributes to aid the adults of tomorrow understand the world of today. Good stuff.

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