Enchanting Review: Prism

PRISM
FAYE & ALIZA KELLERMAN
YA fantasy
Harper Collins
ISBN # 978-0-06-16872-1
264 pages
$16.99
Hardback—Available now

Rating: 4 Enchantments

Kaida Hutchenson isn’t excited about going on a class trip to Carlsbad Caverns. She’s especially not happy that she’s stuck with jock Zeke Anderson and loner Joy Tallon on one of the school buses. Then the trip takes a turn for the worse and they find themselves in a cave. Everything goes black and then Kaida finds herself in her bed back in California. Things seem normal. But are they?

Strange things happen around Kaida. For one thing the whole absence of medicines and dark looks she gets when she mentions 9-1-1. A mysterious boy appears, offering to help her. Should she trust him? All she knows is she must band together with both Zeke and Joy and try to get back to their own reality. And survive doing it.

At first all the dialogue of Kaida and her friend Maria right before the fateful trip to Carlsbad held me back. Then once Kaida gets on that bus, the suspense begins and grows until I couldn’t put the book down. Imagine a world where all medicines are illegal and Social Darwinism, the idea that the strongest survive, wasn’t just a theory but the norm. Kaida’s horror at seeing how the new reality deals with accidents and illnesses compels her to ask questions that are quickly frowned on. I liked the whole twist of the parallel world and know this book will have people questioning the idea that the solution to illnesses is worse than the diseases. Kaida struggles to make sense of this world and her conflicts of who to trust were real. I especially liked how these teens were able to put their differences aside and work at trying to get back home. A very compelling fantasy that is sure to be discussed long after it’s finished.

Faye Kellerman is the author of twenty-five novels. This is the first time writing with Aliza Kellerman, her daughter. Aliza has been writing for years, inspired by her family. A junior in high school, Aliza enjoys drawing, cartooning, singing, and playing her harp. This is her first book. Faye and Aliza live in Los Angeles, Ca.

Kim
ENCHANTING REVIEWS
July 2009