9/26/2023 0 Comments Detailed sylo summaryMcCormick's version begins when the Khmer Rouge marches into 11-year-old Arn's Cambodian neighborhood and forces everyone into the country. McCormick, known for issue-oriented realism, offers a fictionalized retelling of Chorn-Pond's youth for older readers. The childhood of Arn Chorn-Pond has been captured for young readers before, in Michelle Lord and Shino Arihara's picture book, A Song for Cambodia (2008). The humor is spot-on, as is the representation of the black diaspora the opportunity for broader conversations about other topics is there, however, the uneven buildup of detailed, meaningful exchanges and the glibness of Norris’ voice detract.ĭespite some missteps, this will appeal to readers who enjoy a fresh and realistic teen voice.Ī harrowing tale of survival in the Killing Fields. A scene where Norris is confronted by his mother for getting drunk and belligerent with a white cop is diluted by his refusal or inability to grasp the severity of the situation and the resultant minor consequences. The scenes showcasing his emotional growth are too brief and, despite foreshadowing, the climax falls flat because he still gets incredible personal access to people he’s hurt. Norris’ ego, fueled by his insecurities, often gets in the way of meaningful character development. He’s greeted in his new life by an assortment of acquaintances, Liam, who is white and struggling with depression Maddie, a self-sacrificing white cheerleader with a heart of gold and Aarti, his Indian-American love interest who offers connection. His professor mom’s new tenure-track job transplants Norris mid–school year, and his biting wit and sarcasm are exposed through his cataloging of his new world in a field guide–style burn book. Norris Kaplan, the protagonist of Philippe’s debut novel, is a hypersweaty, uber-snarky black, Haitian, French-Canadian pushing to survive life in his new school. There is no middle-volume sag in this pulse-pounding thrillerĪ teenage, not-so-lonely loner endures the wilds of high school in Austin, Texas. ![]() Reminiscent of Stephen King’s masterwork The Stand, this book’s pace never slackens. Tucker’s search for the moral right leads to the concept of the “lesser evil” in ways he could never have anticipated and keeps readers completely involved every step of the way. Tucker just wants some payback for the death of his best friend in the previous book. Division threatens, as the teens argue about what to do: join this resistance or find refuge. A looping radio transmission encourages survivors to go west, where a force is gathering to fight back. Taking refuge in a hospital, the teens find a few other survivors but not a lot of additional information. ![]() But they still don’t know exactly who is fighting whom, or why, or how far the battlefield extends. It’s clear that the battle they witnessed wasn’t just for possession of their home island-it was for the entire area. No one is on the streets, and while most buildings remain, some have completely disintegrated. But it’s not the historic old harbor town they remember. Tucker and his friends Tori, Kent and Olivia escaped from Pemberwick Island and the air-and-sea battle that raged around it to land in Portland. In series opener Sylo (2013), war came to Tucker Pierce on Pemberwick Island off the coast of Maine this middle volume picks up where the first left off.
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