J. B. Cantwell

12-year-old Zander has a unique secret—he’s a parallel, a ghost-seer. The amulet he carries around his neck gives him the ability to obliterate the nasties (bad ghosts). But his whole world is thrown into chaos when Abigail arrives for her first day of school, bringing a trail of nasties with her. At first, Abigail defends the nasties, but when she accidently opens a gateway to a dark, sinister world, the two must work together to save the Earth.

What I liked: the two main characters are fun, and the tension between them, which develops into friendship, is nice. The plotline is easy to follow.

What I didn’t like: the story itself has potential, but falls very flat. There is no real climax, and the big “threat,” which isn’t even introduced until well past the half-way mark of the book, just kind of ends abruptly. Aside from the two main characters, the others are all very one-dimensional.

It was a decent enough read, one that may be better for younger middle grade (8-9 years old) that can handle some scary scenes.

3 out of 5 stars… (meer)

Red is the worst of the worst of criminals, Orange is middle of the pack but still criminals, and Green are innocent. This is the type of world that Riley lives in. There are not many choices that the people have to survive. It is either join the military, the burning plant, or just survive. Riley picks the military. It has to be better than living with her drunk, abusive mother.

Riley's friend, Alex tries to convince Riley to not join up but she does anyways. Although, the stats for women coming home alive is very slim. Riley better watch her back as she has already made enemies with one girl, Lydia, who is an orange.

Instantly, I had a good image of the world that Riley lived in. In addition, I thought the author did a good job of setting the stage for the rest of the story. I am intrigued to see what all this war is about and if Riley will survive.… (meer)