The Shattering
Oct 6, 2011
The Shattering
Author: Karen Healey
Reading level: Young Adult
Hardcover: 320 pages
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers (September 5, 2011)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0316125725
ISBN-13: 978-0316125727
What the Publisher Says:
Seventeen-year-old Keri likes to plan for every possibility. She knows what to do if you break an arm, or get caught in an earthquake or fire. But she wasn't prepared for her brother's suicide, and his death has left her shattered with grief. When her childhood friend Janna tells her it was murder, not suicide, Keri wants to believe her. After all, Janna's brother died under similar circumstances years ago, and Janna insists a visiting tourist, Sione, who also lost a brother to apparent suicide that year, has helped her find some answers.
What Idgie Says:
The first thing that I appreciate about this story is that the teens are “real”. They act real, they wear real clothes, they have junky cars or ride bikes. One boy has money, but he tends to usually act embarrassed as he whips out a credit card. They speak like teens, not overly smarmy adults. This is important in a YA book.
I was pleased when I realized that it’s also set not in the usual US small town but in Auckland. Now there’s a different and interesting location. There was a bit of a language issue at times with the local slang, but I personally take that as more of a challenge to understand how the word is used in the sentence and decipher its meaning.
The story itself rambles through murder, suicide, a possible serial killer and then suddenly segues into magic and the supernatural. Can the three teen protagonists, who’ve all lost older brothers to apparent “suicide”, discover what’s really happening before they lose their own lives?
Note here: I’d say it’s for older teens as there is mild sexual wording and content.
