Starred review from October 5, 2015
The unpredictability of curses, magic, and love are inexorably entwined in this gracefully written story from adult author Barzak (Before and Afterlives). Aidan Lockwood, 17, feels like he's in a fog, unnoticed by classmates and going through the motions of life. That changes when a childhood friend, Jarrod, returns to Temperance, Ohio, resurfacing memories that Aidan has lost outright. Soon, Aidan is unearthing willfully hidden secrets, discovering his real feelings for Jarrod, strengthening the supernatural talents he shares with his mother, and learning that the deaths that mark his family tree are interconnected in ways he couldn't have known. Many books withhold critical information from protagonists in irritating ways, but this isn't one of them; while readers may share Aidan's frustrations about what his mother refuses to tell him, they'll also suspectâas Barzak sharpens both the stakes and a growing sense of dreadâthat there are good reasons she is doing so. If Jarrod is a bit too perfect, readers will gladly grant Aidan the presence of someone so reliable amid so much uncertainty, tragedy, and pain. Ages 14âup. Agent: Barry Goldblatt, Barry Goldblatt Literary.
July 1, 2015
An unexpected encounter with an old friend opens Aidan Lockwood's eyes to extraordinary family secrets. Aidan lives on a farm in Temperance, Ohio, that's been in his family for generations. When Jarrod Doyle returns to finish his senior year after many years away, Aidan doesn't recall him at all, let alone believe that they'd been best friends in elementary school. Jarrod reminds him that he used to tell stories of seeing strange things that no one else saw, including a creepy man in a black suit standing next to their teacher, who died the following day. Pieces of Aidan's life are missing, as though he's in a fog. As old memories resurface along with peculiar dreams, his clairvoyant mother explains to him that she'd put "a dust cover over certain memories and abilities" to protect him from a family curse. Her insufficient explanation and insistence that he not talk about such things with his father or brother push Aidan to search for answers, with Jarrod's help. In the process, they rekindle a relationship that Aidan doesn't remember they'd had, one that eventually goes deeper than simple friendship. Telling the tale in Aidan's deliberate, meticulous voice, Barzak strikes a nice balance between contemporary teen issues and paranormal adventure. Part ghost story, part love story, this page-turner is a captivating exploration of the power of place, family, memory, and time itself. (Paranormal suspense. 12-17)
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July 1, 2015
Gr 9 Up-Aiden Lockwood is a 17-year-old farm boy drifting through his unremarkable life when Jarrod returns to their small town and long-buried memories begin to surface. Aiden is confused about why he cannot remember details from when he and Jarrod were best friends in middle school. Aiden slowly realizes that buried along with his memories were his unique abilities to see the future, the past, others' dreams, and more sinister visions, such as the moment of death. His mother is also a seer with abilities similar to Aiden's; she seems to know all but tells her son the bare minimum. Aiden's brother and father are blissfully unaware of anything beyond the material world. Through visions, the teen travels through time to see his paternal relatives and learns unsettling things about the Lockwood family history. The more Aiden finds out, the more he wants to know. When tragedy strikes, Aiden become more determined to find answers, so he and Jarrod embark on a journey for the truth to Lily Dale, NY (a famous town of Spiritualists). This story has plenty of appeal and potential and offers a twist on the typical paranormal romance-while a sincere, thoughtful LGBT relationship is important to Aiden's character development, it isn't the central focus of the book. Unfortunately, other key characters are not developed fully. The pacing of the narrative is also slightly off-kilter. VERDICT An additional purchase.-Tara Kehoe, New Jersey State Library Talking Book and Braille Center, Trenton
Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
August 1, 2015
Grades 9-12 Seventeen-year-old Aiden Lockwood is a self-described benign loner who drifts through school, works on his family's struggling farm, and ignores the disquieting feeling that he is missing something. It's not until his childhood friend Jarrod moves back to town that Aiden realizes what he is missing are memories. Jarrod claims that Aiden once saw visions of people's futures or pasts and sometimes harbingers of their deaths. Aiden doesn't believe that his unremarkable life was ever that unusual, but Jarrod's stories awaken his dormant abilities. When Aiden begins to have clairvoyant dreams, his mother tells him the truth: she is a seer, too, and she suppressed his abilities to protect him from a family curse. Her meddling and secretiveness send Aiden and Jarrod to search the invisible world for answers. With leisurely pacing and simple, expressive language, Barzak expertly balances magical realism, historical flashbacks, and contemporary teen romance in Aiden's journey of self-discovery. Give this to teen readers who want a quieter paranormal tale or a sincere love story between two boys.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)