A Ghostly Friendship Frees The Light

I don't know what took me so long to make this decision but, after reading thousands of books, from now on I am collecting first lines.  They, like a first paragraph or first chapter, can take the reader away to another time and place within moments.  Whether introducing a character, setting the stage, raising expectations or providing the perfect lure, first lines are the stuff of power.  Lauren Oliver, in her first title for middle grade readers, delivers a stunner in Liesl & Po.

On the third night after the day her father died, Liesl saw the ghost.

Some thirteen months ago when her father was hospitalized with a strange illness, Liesl was locked in an attic room by her conniving, toad-like stepmother, Augusta, who proclaimed profusely that it was for her protection.  Strange her own daughter, Vera, was free to enjoy the fruits of Liesl's father's labors along with Augusta.

Neither boy nor girl, Po, has been drawn from the Other Side to the Living Side along with his constant companion, Bundle, neither dog nor cat.  Liesl and Po need one another for reasons more clear to the one than the other.  As a bargain is sealed between the two, the threads of friendship began to form.

Unbeknownst to Liesl, Will, an orphan, has become assistant to an alchemist dabbling in magic best left alone but which will assure him a status of great power if he succeeds.  As Will runs errands on many still, dark nights, he often pauses beneath Liesl's attic window gazing upward hoping to meet her, to become her friend and protector.  Through no fault of his own, other than exhaustion, Will commits an error.

Coincidences; mix-ups; harmless mistakes and switches.  And so a story is born.

Will was entrusted by the alchemist to deliver a box of huge magic, the biggest the alchemist had ever made or attempted to make, to the Lady Premiere.  He was instructed to go there first, then to Mr. Gray, the undertaker.  He does not.  That is why Liesl's household is in possession of the box of magic and the Lady Premiere has a box filled with the ashes of Liesl's recently deceased father. 

Liesl, Po, Bundle and Will escape the confines placed upon them by life (or the afterlife) to begin a journey attempting to fulfill the request of a dearly departed.  The alchemist, Augusta and the Lady Premiere are in hot pursuit with murder on their minds.  Thrown into the mix is a kindly, cat-loving guard of Lady Premiere's, Mo, who only wants to give Will a hat.

Lauren Oliver as she did in Delirium, previously reviewed here, is the true alchemist in this tale; using language to conjure an effect radiating characters for which readers will cheer or come to loath, a sense of place unlike any previously known and the pure, overwhelming joy at knowing there are people on whom you can rely through life and even beyond in death.

As he had walked down empty street after empty street, past row after row of darkened houses, in silence so thick it was like a syrup that dragged his footsteps away into echoes before he had placed a heel to the ground, he had imagined it perfectly:  how he would come around the corner and see that tiny square of light so many stories above him, and see her face floating there like a single star.

From the courtyard he heard a man calling out, "Where are you, you useless, worthless shrivel-head? When I find you, I swear, I'll cook you for dinner and turn your innards to meat loaf?"  He recognized the man's voice:  It was the one with the dripping nose, the man who had introduced himself as the alchemist.

Liesl managed to smile at him.  She liked that word:  we.  It sounded warm and open, like a hug.

Black and white illustrations that appear to be done in pencil and charcoal mirror the flow, the fiction, the flavor of this story in every respect.  Kei Acedera splendidly portrays the visions formed by the words of Oliver.

Certainly, frequently, a comedy of error, suspense at every turn, supposed kindness that takes a cruel turn but most assuredly this is a tale of wonder, of darkness overcome by a magical glowing light, a light released by friendship and love.  Liesl & Po written by the hand and most assuredly by the heart of Lauren Oliver is a fantasy that touches the very core of your soul; that will resonate in your mind for years to come.

I invite you to explore Lauren Oliver's web site and the web site of Liesl & Po for a treasure trove of goodies, videos, icons, wallpaper and a study guide to name a few.

Lovesick

The most dangerous sicknesses are those that make us believe we are well.---Proverbs 42, The Book of Shhh

So heads Chapter One of Delirium.  Frighteningly enough it's a future that could be just around the corner.  In this world love is a disease, amor deliria nervosa, that upon turning eighteen is cured with a procedure. In just over three months Lena Holoway will no longer fear getting this disease.  Her fear is founded on the suicide of her mother who after three attempts was unable to be cured.  She died still loving Lena's father who lost his life to terminal disease.  The last whispered words Lena's mother said to her were:  I love you.  Remember.  They cannot take it. 

 It is during the required evaluation before her procedure that the rebels from the Wilds stage another protest in the form of cows being let loose in the center; dressed as people with the words NOT CURE. DEATH. on their sides.  During the hullabaloo she hears laughter coming from the observation deck.

 As soon as I look up, his eyes click onto my face.  the breath whooshes out of my body and everything freezes for a second, as though I'm looking at him through my camera lens, zoomed in all the way, the world pausing for that tiny span of time between the opening and closing of the shutter.  His hair is golden brown, like leaves in autumn just as they're turning, and he has bright amber eyes.  The moment I see him I know that he's one of the people responsible for this.  I know that he must live in the Wilds; I know he's an Invalid.  Fear clamps down on my stomach, and I open my mouth to shout something-I'm not sure what, exactly---but at precisely that second he gives a minute shake of his head, and suddenly I can't make a sound.  Then he does the absolutely, positively unthinkable.  He winks at me.

That split shared second, that wink changes everything that Lena knew to be true about her corner of the universe.  That boy, Alex, forces her to create a new normal.


Lauren Oliver gives readers the best possible look into this dystopian tomorrow that has neighborhood patrols looking for missteps, curfews, segregated schools by sex, strict control through fear and violence,  and an emotionless society.  Her plentiful use of metaphoric language rather than bogging down the narrative brings the setting and characters vividly to life. 

Readers be prepared to rush through the pages until the cliffhanger ending when you have to remind yourself to start breathing again.