Shadow's Edge

December 5, 2011
Adult author Lipinski’s third book is her first foray into YA fiction. The concept is intriguing: while a symbiotic relationship between humans and faeries has been explored before, the notion that a human is necessary as a “shaman” for the Other raises all sorts of possibilities—none of which Lipinski explores. Shaman Leah Spencer is like a multitude of teenage protagonists with an unwilling connection to the nonhuman, and much of the first hundred pages of the novel is devoted to new school woes, football games, drunken partying, and romantic entanglements. Lipinski’s propensity to have Leah Think In Capital Letters and strain after witty exaggerations (“Despite feeling slightly like I’d been abducted and helicoptered to a parallel universe...”) makes it feel as though she’s trying too hard to create a credible teenage protagonist. Leah is eventually drawn back to her Other roots by murder and discord between the Light and the Dark Créatúir, which only Leah, of course, can resolve. It’s a pleasant, predictable excursion that doesn’t live up to its potential. Ages 12–up. Agent: Waxman Literary Agency.

December 15, 2011
Sixteen-year-old Leah Spencer isn't just the new kid at Westerville High, she's an unwilling Créatúir Shaman, desperate to shed her responsibilities to the "Other Realm" and live the life of a normal Texas teenager. Unfortunately, the mystical beings aren't prepared to let her go off with the star quarterback without a fight. After a series of murders in the Other Realm drive the Light and Dark Créatúir to the brink of war, Leah reclaims her role as Shaman. With the help of her three sisters and one kickass homecoming queen, Leah learns to embrace her gift and harness the power of the elements to restore peace. Written from Leah's perspective, Lipinski's debut teen novel boasts all the right ingredients: cheerleaders and football players, teen romance, danger and fantasy. However, the recipe falls flat. The often-shocking descriptions of the mystical creatures often feel gratuitous, like cheap, gross-out gags with no real link to the story. In addition, while Leah uncovers a connection between the construction site for the new football field and a passageway to the Other Realm, this key plot element is never satisfactorily explored. The combined effect of these distractions and unanswered questions will likely leave readers scratching their heads as Leah races to save the day just a little too conveniently in the last quarter of the novel. Pass. (Fantasy. 12-15)

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