Laureth Peak, daughter of a relatively well-known writer, is blind; that doesn’t stop her from noticing special patterns and connections. But her father disappears one day, and Laureth travels to New York City with her little brother Benjamin’s hand held tight in hers. She and Ben must solve puzzles and make it through New York, a country an ocean away from her homeland. Will Laureth and her brother make it through the entire ordeal and find their father despite all of the obstacles?
I felt that the writing style was “clean”; it had a modern-ish tone to it, from the perspective of a not-too-normal sixteen year old girl. I thought it was a little confusing when characters were introduced and were written so that it seemed to me they would be of great plot significance, but in the end they weren’t that important. However, I thought that the characters of Laureth and Benjamin were developed well, the author described enough of their childhood for the reader to link to how and why they acted how they did in the present. Overall, it was an enjoyable book with an interesting plot, though it wasn’t so interesting that I would want to read it again and again.
One memorable thing is that Laureth, and Benjamin’s toy raven, Stannous, were both named after chemicals. Laureth was an ingredient in shampoo and Stannous was one for toothpaste. I found this memorable and interesting, to have things named after pleasant-sounding chemical names, and how Laureth’s mother was angry after learning that her daughter was named after a shampoo ingredient.
Reviewed by Rachel, grade 8, Twin Hickory Area Library
HCPL TeenScene's Read + Review 