Misfit

June 27, 2011
Skovron's second book is a two for one: a coming-of-age story wrapped within a captivating paranormal context. Sixteen-year-old Jael Thompson's gradual discovery of her abilities as a half-demon is narrated in the present tense, while her education about her heritage comes via detailed visions of her parents' past, told in past tense. The duality is a little uncomfortable, intentionally so, as Skovron (Struts & Frets) goes beyond adolescent preoccupations with acceptance, identity, and the opposite sex to look at even more fraught issues of faith, parental self-sacrifice, and the nature of reality. After a lifetime of constant moves, Jael wants to make friends, explore her attraction to Rob McKinley, and just go to high school. And if a Grand Duke of Hell is pursuing her? Well, her father will simply have to stop being so overprotective and help her deal with it. Jael is an easy heroine to root for, and readers will recognize, as Jael does, that (demonic roots aside) she is "just a lonely girl with a lot of problems." The romance between Jael's parents adds additional texture and complexity to her narrative of self-discovery. Ages 14âup.

Starred review from April 15, 2011

In an impeccably paced and unusually profound urban-fantasy novel, 16-year-old half-demon Catholic-school student Jael Thompson comes into her powers, explores her heritage and battles a tyrannical Hell beast.

Jael, who grew up on the run with her strict, tight-lipped father, knows little of her history until her 16th birthday. Then, fulfilling a promise to his late wife, Jael's father gives her a gem that allows her access to her demon half. Through flashbacks and visions, Jael finally encounters traces of her mother, once the Phoenician goddess Astarte. She also meets her uncle, a kindly but grotesque (by the mortal realm's standards) fish demon, who helps her harness her newfound ability to influence the elements. Much tension comes from Jael's rebellious and sometimes reckless choices: She experiments with her powers and confides in a classmate despite her father's insistence that the pair stay completely hidden. Refreshingly, Jael is largely proven right: Her actions bring her the intimacies, romantic and familial, that her human half craves, even while attracting the family's sinister and powerful enemy, the demon Belial. Alongside joyous exploration, heart-pounding action and inventively horrifying imagery is a complex set of metaphysical questions: Does reality define belief or belief define reality? What is the nature of Hell? What makes a family?

Thoughtful, scary and captivating. (Urban fantasy. 14 & up)

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

Starred review from October 1, 2011

Gr 8 Up-Jael's father tells her hardly anything about her mother or his past. They move often and are currently living in Seattle, where he teaches at the Catholic school she attends. On her 16th birthday, he gives her a strange necklace that belonged to her mother. He warns her not to wear it and when she does she has visions of his past and of her mother. Astarte was a goddess, a demoness, who came to Paul while he was in seminary. They fought demons together until Astarte sacrificed herself to save their daughter. The Grand Duke of Hell, Belial, continues to hunt them to this day. Paul didn't want Jael to know about her past, but Astarte's brother Dagon appears to her as well as Asmodeus and between them and her visions, Jael learns about her mother and her own powers, which have been restored to her. This gripping story, steeped in myth and religion, will have readers on the edge of their seats as Jael fights for her life against Belial, who is determined to kill her. Jael is a strong, believable character who also kicks butt!-Corinda J. Humphrey, Los Angeles Public Library

Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.