The Wanderers

July 15, 2015
Flo and her friends are but poor, lost circus performers-who shape-shift into animals and try to evade governmental capture. Newly turned 16, orphaned shifter Flo is dreading her first circus performance. Alas for her, it's not optional; all of the shifter children who live with the circus must perform regularly as soon as they reach that age. Flo must take a turn like all the others, so after a false start, she takes the stage-not as a girl but as a magnificent mare. Like her boyfriend, Jett the bear, or her nemesis, Pru the tiger, Flo becomes an animal at will. In a modern world of cars and DVD players, the circus shifters live almost medievally, bound under the unkind leadership of the elders, three middle-aged lion shifters. Flo knows that if she leaves, she'll be vulnerable to hunters, government-funded paramilitary forces that are the modern legacy of sworn enemies who have been murdering shifters since time immemorial. So she tolerates the cruelty of her peers, learns to jump through a flaming hoop, and almost has hope for the future when disaster strikes. In a spare first-person, present-tense narration, Flo takes readers through a swoony romance with a massive body count. Despite the potential whimsy of a circus adventure narrated by a shape-shifting mare, this more closely resembles a brutal, angst-drenched dystopia a la Veronica Roth's Divergent (2011) than anything else. (Fantasy. 13-15)

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October 1, 2015

Gr 6 Up-As long as she can remember, 16-year old shape-shifter Flo has lived a life on the run, moving with the circus and hiding her ability to become a horse from humans and from the "hunters." The circus has seemed a safe, if not highly profitable, place for her and the other orphans in the pack, under the guidance and protection of a trio of middle-age lion-shifters. But now, since she has come of age, it is time for Flo to perform with the adults. Even with the support of Jett, a handsome young bear-shifter who loves her, and even after strenuous practice, Flo is nervous about jumping flaming hurdles. She is even more ill at ease after she becomes aware of the black-clothed men watching her and the other circus performers. When this anxiety causes her to make one small mistake, Flo's world explodes. The circus is destroyed, and she finds herself both prey and hunter. Along with Jett and a few survivors, she joins a small pack of itinerant shifters, running to avoid capture by the hunters, while struggling to unravel the almost unbelievable conspiracy that brought her and others to the circus in the first place. Ormand introduces readers to a large cast of characters, some more developed than others, and she makes their unusual circumstances plausible and exciting. This often-brutal tale unfolds through Flo's narration, allowing readers to experience her thoughts, fears, and developing attachment to Jett. VERDICT The preternatural circus of shifters, budding young romance, and action-packed struggle against evil will appeal to readers of paranormal fiction.-MaryAnn Karre, West Middle School, Binghamton, NY

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