The Mark

Nadol, Jen. The Mark
Bloomsbury see St. Martins 2010 228p 16.99
978-1-59990-431-3 hs Supernatural VG-BN

Cassie sees a glow around people who will die within 24 hours. Riveting reading with fully developed characters amid a discussion of end of life. Is Cassie a descendent of one of the three Fates of myth? How does she handle this gift/curse? Grades 8 and up.
After several instances where Cassie has seen a glow around a person and they have died within 24 hours, she realizes she has the ability to foresee imminent death. Cassie has lived with her grandmother since the death of her parents over 10 years previous. After grandma’s death, yes Cassie saw the mark and shared the knowledge with grandma, who calmly said it was her time to go, Cassie is forced to live with an aunt she has never met for three months as set out in grandma’s will. Cassie’s aunt is non-attentive leaving Cassie on her own. Cassie gets a summer job, audits a college philosophy course and falls in love with a college student. Sexual relations are implied but not described. Cassie shares her curse/gift with the boyfriend and they disagree on whether she should try to change fate. Cassie delves into her parental background and finds her mother may have had the same gift. Is Cassie a descendent of Laechis, one of the three Fates/Moirae of Greek myth? Is this psychic ability a gift or a curse? Should she act on the knowledge? Readers come to know Cassie, her doubts, her strength, and her inquisitiveness through her interactions with others as well as the philosophical discussions in the college classroom. Guaranteed to hold reader’s attention and leave them much to think about. Outstanding first novel! Grades 8+. Outstanding first novel about the ability to foresee death. Readers will know Cassie, her doubts, her strength, and her intellectual curiosity and share her quandary whether to change fate since that may be within her power. Much to think about. Grades 8+. McNicol,Lois
Psychic ability - fiction

Nadol, Jen. The Mark.

Nadol, Jen. The Mark.
Bloomsbury see St. Martins 2010 228p 16.99 978-1-59990-431-3 hs Cassandra can tell when someone’s going to die that day. Should she let them know? If this were a movie, the tag line would be “If you knew today is someone’s last, should you tell them?” Cassandra Renfield, 16, has the dubious “gift” of recognizing people who will die that day. Orphaned at 2, and living with her grandmother “Nan,” Cassie sees a “glow” around people who are about to die. When Nan dies, she’s sent to live for 90 days with her unknown aunt Andrea in Kansas, where her parents lived. There she audits a college philosophy class and it causes her to examine her responsibility to people she sees “marked.” There’s an affair with the philosophy teaching assistant and some far-fetched investigating into her mother’s old psych records. Summer ends and the reader’s left with Cassie’s philosophical dilemma. Good writing and interest in the paranormal will make this popular. Supernatural Gooden, Sue