A Thousand Pieces of You

September 29, 2014
Marguerite Cain is the daughter of two famous scientists behind a device called the Firebird, which allows people to travel to other dimensions where they occupy the bodies of their alternate selves. When a graduate student named Paul murders Marguerite’s father and escapes into another dimension, Marguerite and another graduate student, the handsome Theo, risk their lives by trying to catch him. As they move among multiple dimensions, Marguerite contends with a roller coaster of dangers, stress, and unexpected romance, while questioning the ethics of taking over the other Marguerites’ lives. Her feelings about Theo and Paul are also thrown into flux as she meets alternate versions of these young men. Gray (the Evernight series) gets her Firebird series off to an action-packed start; while certain plot points resolve too easily and predictably, the fascinating worlds and eras Marguerite visits make these drawbacks easily forgiven. Marguerite’s foray into czarist Russia as a member of the House of Romanov is a particular highlight as Gray effortlessly moves between the SF, historical, and contemporary aspects of her story. Ages 14–up. Agent: Diana Fox, Fox Literary.

July 1, 2014
Grades 8-11 Marguerite will get revenge on the man who murdered her father. With fate on her side, and with the help of her parents' graduate assistant, Theo, Marguerite uses the device her mother invented to jump through alternate dimensionssome similar to our own, others very differentsearching for clues to his whereabouts. Her goal: to kill Paul Markov. This unique sf adventure is full of twists, turns, and surprises. Readers will appreciate Marguerite's determination to help her parents, even though she is a misfit, the lone artist in a family of scientific geniuses. The secondary players are equally well rounded, and their various incarnations in each dimension make for intriguing character explorations. In resourceful Marguerite's first-person narration, the story moves quickly, and the science is explained enough to make the plot clear, but not so much as to bog things down. Gray concludes the story in a satisfying manner, while leaving plenty of room for more in the projected sequel. Fans of romances with action should like this one. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Gray made quite a name for herself with her best-selling paranormal fantasy series, Evernight. Expecther fans to make the move to sf with this title.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)