Noel, Alyson. Whisper.

Noel, Alyson.     Whisper.    Macmillan/Square Fish   215p  $7.99

978-0-312-64156-6       ms          Good        Supernatural     

Riley Bloom, a soul catcher who, by the way, is dead, is sent to catch the soul of a Roman gladiator named the Pillar of Doom.  Along the way she meets a young girl who works at cross purposes to Riley, for her own reasons.  As a result, Riley could get caught in the other girl's world.    

Riley Bloom is written in a manner that will capture the interest of middle-school girls with an interest in the supernatural.  The dialogue reads as smoothly as a dialogue between friends.  The image of a young girl pitting herself against a big, burly gladiator as well as a scheming young woman will pull readers into the story, even though much of it is told on a superficial level.  The book is an easy read that would probably lend itself to female reluctant readers.  The Immortals & Radiance series presents a world that middle-school girls with an interest in supernatural tales will find interesting.  The series presents itself as a set of titles for female, reluctant readers.                        --Lynn Fisher

Noel, Alyson. Shimmer (Riley Bloom series).

Noel, Alyson.      Shimmer (Riley Bloom series).  

Square Fish/FSG/Macmillan     2011  196p  7.99  978-0-312-64825-1 

ms/hs      Supernatural            VG-BN

In a thought-provoking book of the Riley Bloom series, Noel writes a new challenge

for Riley, a protagonist who aides others in passing on once they have died. 

Riley meets the tortured Rebecca, a slave owner’s daughter who perished in a

slave uprising & must help her put her brutal death aside to move to the

afterlife.        

Riley’s job is to cross creatures over once they’ve died.  In

this endeavor, her young age of 12 is a liability.   Her inexperience is not her

concern, and thanks to her willful, passionate, youthful nature, she often jumps

headfirst into situations that seem insurmountable.  While on vacation, and with

her guide Bodhi to counsel her and her dog Buttercup for moral support, she runs

head on into a new challenge, that of crossing over a young white girl who was

burned to death in a slave uprising before the Civil War.  Despite reliving past

nightmares evoked by Rebecca’s ability to “push” those she meets into the

painful memories of their real lives, Riley does not walk away from her

responsibility as one who helps lingering souls move on.  Alyson Noel’s vivid

descriptions of life after death combine with an interesting plot of reverse

discrimination to make this book come alive for her teenage readers.  Perhaps

the best scenes do not revolve around Rebecca’s tortured post-existence, but

rather, with the introduction of Prince Kanta.  It is the prince who shows Riley

the way to achieve success with the tortured, bitter Rebecca.  It is the prince

who is lingering to save the souls of his fellow slaves who have not put their

own horrendous past to rest.  Riley’s education about slavery and the atrocities

committed by slave owners puts this book into the realm of historical

fiction/supernatural, a combination that moves the reader forward through a

journey that is educationally unique.  

Riley’s path to self-awareness is a theme

that will resonate with Noel’s fans and keep them reading.  The book is a stand

alone that just might make new readers go back to discover some of the other

adventures of Riley, Buttercup and Bodhi.             Squaresky, Martha