The Chamber of Five

May 9, 2011
In this tense psychological thriller, Harmon (Brutal) explores the abuse of power and authority. At the Lambert School for the Gifted, the student body is run by the Youth Leadership Group, which is in turn ruled by the elite Chamber of Five. When junior Jason Weatherby is tapped to join the Chamber, it's an honor he doesn't want and an opportunity he isn't allowed to refuse. Emotionally blackmailed by the Chamber's tyrannical and manipulative leader, Carter Logan, and pressured by his own abusive congressman father, Jason reluctantly accepts, but only so he can change the system from within. His first task: destroy fellow student Thomas Singletary, a mysterious loner. Caught between the demands of a corrupt government and his own beliefs, Jason recruits allies, including Thomas. As tension mounts, violence is all but inevitable. With its intense, brittle atmosphere, this story is a narrative powder keg ready to explode. While the villains are a little cartoonish in their unrelenting nastiness, Jason's inherent optimism and decency make him a protagonist worth supporting. Dark at heart, there's light at the end of this tunnel. Ages 14âup.

May 15, 2011

As the son of a U.S. Congressman, 17-year-old Jason Weatherby knows all about power and influence.

His father's connections secured his admission into the prestigious Lambert School for the Gifted, while the geniuses for whom the school was founded have no such clout. As a sophomore, Jason joined the exclusive Youth Leadership Group, and his invitation to join the Chamber of Five in his junior year is the ultimate reward for his father's generosity. Inclusion in this elite group of upperclassmen comes with a price: Jason must convince an undesirable freshman named Thomas Singletary to leave Lambert, by any means necessary. Until Jason agrees to become a Chamber member and gets rid of Thomas, the other Chamber members ridicule and physically threaten his friend Elvis, one of the novel's few sympathetic characters. Jason's own elitism comes across in his first-person narration and may leave some readers questioning both his decisions and Harmon's choice of protagonist. Jason's decision to stage a coup d'état during the student council elections sets off a chain of events leading to the novel's dramatic conclusion, although perceptive teens may unearth the personal vendetta behind the Chamber's Machiavellian actions before Jason puts all of the pieces together.

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

July 1, 2011

Gr 10 Up-Jason Weatherby is a rich kid. He attends a prestigious school for the gifted, and his father is a congressman. Only Jason isn't gifted, and neither are any of the other members of the elite group of five boys who run the school. The Chamber is a powerful springboard to prestigious colleges and powerful positions. Carter Logan is its cruel, and some would say sadistic, leader. He uses his position to force members to do unspeakable things to other students to get their compliance or to get them kicked out of the school. He makes a girl strip to the waist, and he forces one boy to perform oral sex while photos are taken to spread around campus. Jason wants none of it, but the repercussions for noncompliance could be too great and his abusive father is siding with The Chamber. Now things are turning even more ugly and violent, and Jason becomes determined to bring down the group and expose it for what it is. This book is gritty and powerful, and will have readers transfixed. The short chapters, fascinating characters, and page-turning action makes this book an excellent choice for reluctant readers.-Jake Pettit, Thompson Valley High School, Loveland, CO

Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2011
Grades 9-12 When Jason Weatherby is invited to join the elite Chamber of Five at his private high school, he feels ambivalent about this supposed honor, but he knows that his politically ambitious father expects him to join. When Carter Logan, the leader of the Five, orders Jason to drive the seemingly hapless freshman, Thomas Singletary, from the school, Jason resists and learns that the Chamber of Five is far more sinister than he imagined: it is mirrored in the elite schools throughout America as part of a conspiracy to keep the rich in power for generations to come. It turns out, though, that Thomas Singletary does not need Jason's help. Bent on revenge for his father's death, Singletary proves more cagey and ruthless than his adversaries, and he teams up with Jason to ruin the Chamber. This suspenseful YA novel has many elements found in popular thrillers for adults dark conspiracies and an ice-cold, calculating villainand will easily draw older YAs. Pair this with Daniel Parker's Wessex Papers series, also about dark doings at a private school.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)