Cover Love:
I really like this cover, I think it would make kids want to pick up this book.
Why I Wanted to Read this:
I really like a good alternate universe book and the synopsis of this one seemed right up my alley. Here it is from GoodReads:
Twelve-year-old Zak Killian is hearing a voice. Could it be a guardian angel? A ghost? No, that's crazy. But sometimes the voice is so real. . . . It warns him of danger.
One day Zak is standing on the subway platform when the tunnel starts to fill with water. He sees it before anyone else. The voice warns him to run. His friends Moira and Khalid believe this is more than a premonition, and soon all three find themselves in an alternate universe that is both familiar and seriously strange. As Zak unravels the mystery behind the voice, he faces decisions that may mean the end of their world at home--if they can even get home!
My Thoughts:
Overall this was a great read. There were a few things in the beginning that made it a little hard fro me to get into but once I was over that hump, the book flew.
One of the things that bothered me a ton were Zak's parents. They were so frustrating. They were convinced that Zak was doing "bad" things so rather than talk with him, they ground him. Then they get him a psychiatrist, but are more into blaming each other for his behavior than really getting him help. It was very hard to get over this because every scene with them made me want to throw the book!
After a pretty slow start a little twist happens that caught my interest. Once that came about, I was much more into the book. Once they got to the alternate universe, I was very into the book. The author set up a great world with the alternate universe. There are a lot of similarities between our world and the one that Zak and his friends get to, but enough differences that cause them to be very lost and confused. The rules of the new world and society are very different than ours and they don't have a lot of time to learn them. The author did a great job of conveying their confusion and fear. This new universe is very technologically advanced to us and open to a lot of new ideas, but they are also very backwards in some issues. I was glad that Khalid was able to find an ally once they got to the alternative universe and thankfully it was one willing to believe and help out. Giving them a guide was very important.
From the start of their time in the alternate universe I felt something was off in the story Zak was being told. I'm not sure if this was because I'm an adult and I consume a lot of content, so I'm pretty quick to develop theories, or if it was easy to deduce. I would like to chat with someone from the target audience after they read it to see if they jumped to the same conclusion that I did.
There is a lot of action and I guess what I would call "speculative science" in the alternate universe. None of it was over my head and the story moved along very quickly.
To Sum Up: I think this is going to be a big hit with middle school readers. I will be buying a copy for my library and book talking it this fall. I already have my first reader for this story picked out and I know he will love it.
Macmillan is giving away a finished copy of The Secret Sea to one of my readers. US only, winner will be announced on August 29.
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