Strange Alchemy

July 1, 2017

Gr 8 Up-In this heavily revised version of Bond's 2012 Blackwood, history, mystery, and the paranormal combine to create a contemporary tale of adolescent angst and romance. Modern-day teens Miranda's and Grant's fears and secrets set them apart from others in their hometown on Roanoke Island, NC. When 114 townspeople disappear one day-the same number of people from the island's famous Lost Colony-Miranda and Grant resolve to use their fears and secrets to their advantage and rescue the missing people. Because all of the adults are overly permissive, missing, dead, or clueless, the stage is set for Miranda and Grant to act at will without lasting or meaningful repercussions. Grant drugs the FBI agents and local police and steals his mom's car. The two also break into the coroner's office to look for a scar on Miranda's father's corpse. Many readers will find this novel fantasy-driven teenage wish fulfillment. Bond manages the historical aspects of the story nimbly. The main characters don't travel back in time to the 1500s; rather, denizens from the 16th century arrive in the present day. A family curse, a phantom ship sailing through town on dry ground, Miranda's soothsaying dream, and a creepy birthmark that switches from dad to daughter all come across as credible plot propellers. VERDICT Recommended for libraries wanting to add to their teen paranormal romance collections or where the author is popular.-Jennifer Prince, Buncombe County Public Libraries, NC

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 15, 2017
A revised version of the author's first novel, Blackwood (2012). Miranda Blackwood, the town "freak," is cursed, along with her family, to remain on Roanoke Island (the site of the Lost Colony in North Carolina). Grant Rawling, grandson of the "legendary Witch of Roanoke Island," was sent away to a boarding school nearly four years ago after his ability to hear the spirits of the dead emerged. Mystery develops when Miranda begins seeing a phantom ship and, like the original colonists, 114 islanders disappear. At a complete loss for clues, police chief Rawling summons his son back to Roanoke Island to help. The 17-year-olds, both evidently white given their ancestry, alternate narration. The premise of this speculative novel is intriguing: the spirit of alchemist John Dee has returned to fulfill his original plan of creating a new colony of immortals. The execution, however, is clunky, repetitive, and awkward as the teens continually scramble around the small island, trying to outwit a range of stereotyped characters from the villainous Dee to a crackpot conspiracy theorist to law enforcement agents. Except for one f-bomb (Miranda usually uses the Battlestar Galactica expletive "frak"), this story may be suited for those looking for "clean" reads with no sex or graphic violence, but that's about all it has going for it. Passionate mystery or speculative fiction fans should look elsewhere. (Speculative fiction. 13-16)

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July 1, 2017
Grades 9-12 Bond (Girl on a Wire, 2014) unearths America's oldest mystery to breathe new, enchanting life into it, and sends readers on a twisting, genre-defying thrill ride. Miranda and Grant, both 17, are bound together by Roanoke Island's mysterious history: Miranda is a Blackwood, descended from members of the original Roanoke colony and cursed never to set foot off the island; Grant hears the voices of the island's long dead. When 114 people suddenly go missingthe same amount as Roanoke's original colonists who disappeared more than 400 years agothe two teens team up to investigate the occurrence and find Roanoke's citizens before they are lost to history forever. Originally Bond's first novel, published as Blackwood (2012), this updated version misses an opportunity to develop rounder characters. Though chapters alternate between Miranda and Grant's perspectives, it's often difficult to distinguish one voice from the other. Still, beneath these distracting elements lies an exciting fusion of well-researched historical fiction and supernatural fantasy with magic, secrecy and a touch of romance at its heart.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)