My Father's Son by Terri Fields

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
Bang! As soon as the book opens, Kevin sees his father on TV and he's not getting an award. Instead the newscasters are saying the his dad is the DB25 killer, a serial murder who has tortured and killed more than 13 women over the past few years. The evidence is pretty solid. His dad was apprehended by the police when he was climbing out of the latest victim's window. After this brief introduction the book goes back in time a few weeks to show just how normal Kevin's life had been and juxtapose it with the life that he is being thrown into. Of course, Kevin doesn't believe his dad is a killer, but no one will talk to him and his dad tells him not to try to contact him or help him in any way. Is it possible to be living with a monster and not have any idea?

I read this book almost in one sitting. I just couldn't put it down because I had to know the truth about Kevin's dad. Fields does a pretty good job of building suspense and throws in just enough sketchy information to make it seem possible that someone's dad could be a killer.

The characters were well developed and the teen dialogue was right on. Sometimes fictional teens are just a little too witty and pithy to be believable. But that wasn't the case with My Father's Son. There are some great exchanges but the teens don't all sound like Jay Leno is writing monologues for them. Also, the mom was a well developed character for a change. Of course she takes the brunt of Kevin's anger about the situation, but her reactions are believable and understandable. She is able to be supportive without being a doormat.

I am planning to buy this book right away for my school library. That's high praise considering I have no budget and have to eek out books by doing fundraisers and having parents feel sorry for me. I very seldom buy a book in hard cover, but I have to get this one now. I know my 7th and 8th graders are going to love it!


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Review of "Dead Girl Walking" by Joy Singleton

Dead Girl Walking: Dead Girl by Linda Joy Singleton

My review

rating: 2 of 5 stars
When Amber has an out of body experience, she takes a wrong turn and ends up in the body of Leah, the richest, most popular girl in school. Now Amber has to get used to a new "somewhat" different family and a group of friends who she would never choose. How can Amber get back into her own body when she can't even convince anyone that she still exists?

This was not a terrible book, but it had many problems. One was that the characters were all "types." I'm so sick of reading teen books with the anarchist, black dressing vegan girl, the geeky techie guy friend who's just a girl with testosterone, and the vapid popular girls. Singleton does give Leah's friend, Jessica a little depth, but the rest of the popular crowd are straight out of an after school special. Also, why does Amber have to be such a ungainly clod who's the complete opposite of the body she ends up inhabiting? Isn't it possible that she could have anything in common with a popular girl? And when is a teen book going to be written where the rich parents aren't complete monsters? A steady diet of YA fiction would convince most people that all wealthy parents are evil, power hungry, controlling fiends who treat their kids like property and have more respect for their Mercedes than their own offspring. Leah's Dad was like Bart Bass (gossip girl) on steroids. Aren't there any any parents with fat wallets who also have kind hearts?

Anyway, this is a series and I couldn't even bring myself to read the sneak preview of the next book at the end of this one. Maybe I'm just in a bad mood, but to me this was a good plot idea that just wasn't very well written.


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