Who is Mackie Spence?

November 3, 2014
In Kaymer’s first novel, set on a small island in Puget Sound, 16-year-old Jeremy’s life is refocused after his childhood friend Mackie nearly drowns during a boating excursion. Jeremy has fallen in love with Mackie at the wildlife center where they both volunteer, but ever since the accident—during which Mackie was in the water for several hours and fell into a coma—animals have been acting uncharacteristically respectful and calm around Mackie, and injured ones seem to exert a strange pull on her. Meanwhile, at school, Mackie’s aggressive ex, Brody, is determined to win her back. When a Ouija board yields the cryptic message “Save Akeso,” Mackie and Jeremy begin to wonder if it’s her destiny to be a healer and what his role in her life is meant to be. While the novel’s aura of otherworldly strangeness, dashed with moments of danger, is somewhat compelling, the characters and the budding romance between Jeremy and Mackie are only loosely sketched. The mystery surrounding Mackie is quite slow to build, and an oddly structured, tacked-on epilogue adds little in the way of closure. Ages 12–up.

November 15, 2014
A romance blossoms between two teens while strange circumstances threaten to tear them apart.Mackie Spence nearly drowned over summer break. When her family's boat capsized, Mackie spent three hours lost in the water and a week in a coma after that. And then she woke up. Now she's back at school, and longtime friend Jeremy is drawn toward her more than ever, wondering how she survived and hoping she likes him as much as he likes her. As the two teens court, Kaymer displays a wonderful talent for developing relationships with realism and ease. This is a sweet, good-natured romance not fueled by teen lust or high emotion but by genuine personal attraction. Adding to the realism is Jeremy and Mackie's group of friends, a group that doesn't fit into any standard stereotype. The author captures what it's like to be a smart, emotionally stable, excitable teenager without resorting to tropes or archetypes. The book's fantasy elements are less intriguing, with some odd worldbuilding in the back end that comes close to undercutting the courtship between Mackie and Jeremy. The fantasy and romance elements pinball against one another and never jell as well as they should, resulting in a mildly engaging fantasy/mystery grafted onto a charming love story. Half great, half so-so, but most readers will leave satisfied. (Romantic suspense. 12-16)

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December 1, 2014

Gr 6-10-Mackie, 16, appears to be a normal high school junior, but lifelong friend and fellow wildlife-shelter volunteer Jeremy discovers that she has the ability to heal animals in this bland paranormal romance that incorporates classical Greek mythology. During the summer before their junior year, Mackie nearly drowns when her family's boat capsizes off the Oregon coast. She is in a coma for a week, but recovers without any obvious side effects, except her unusual new power, tied to Akeso, the Greek goddess of healing. Shortly after the accident, she dumpsher boyfriend Brody, star athlete, cross-country team member with Jeremy, and a guy who's used to getting any girl he wants. As the school year starts, Brody, a senior, already has a new girlfriend, but he's not taking the breakup with Mackie well and is jealous of any guy who's interested in her. Brody's excessive jealousy ultimately threatens Mackie's life. This debut suffers from occasional verb tense inconsistencies and the frequent use of italics to emphasize "important moments" is overdone. The plot isn't complex enough to prevent readers from anticipating events long before they happen. Strictly additional.-Sharon Rawlins, New Jersey State Library, Trenton

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