Skip to main content

The Shifter

By



The Shifter
The Healing Wars: Book 1
by Janice Hardy
juvenile fantasy
370 pages
New York : Balzer & Bray, 2009


Geveg and its neighboring countries are being overtaken by the Evil Duke of Baseer. He is greedy and wants all of their pynvium, a special ore used both for healing and weapon-making. Nya and Tali are two sisters orphaned by the war. To survive, Tali enters the Healer League to learn how to master her ability to heal and draw out someone's pain. She and all the other Healers, or Takers, then transfer the pain into the pynvium so they don't have to carry it longer than necessary. Pain-filled pynvium is then used to make weapons. Nya too is a healer, yet she does not have the ability to transfer the pain into pynvium, instead she can transfer the pain into another person. You can imagine the many wrong-ways someone could use this power. Considered an Abnormal Taker, she can not enter the League and has to scrape out an existence on the streets while trying to hide her talents. When her beloved sister is in danger, Nya is forced to reveal her secret to a pain merchant. She will have to make sacrifices and hard decisions, always thinking of her sister and her fellow Gevegians. She has a couple of great friends to help her in and out of some tough spots, including a possible romantic interest. This is an enjoyable fantasy adventure for middle school and upper elementary students (boys and girls alike). High-school age kids would probably enjoy it, but would think it a bit tame compared to a lot of the teen literature out there right now. It is obviously the first in a series, yet it wraps up enough I am not going to be as frustrated with the wait as I usually am with other series.

Labels:

Comments

curlyq said…
This was a great book! I really appreciated Hardy's creative plot--it didn't feel like any book I've read before. I loved the many twists and turns. Wonderful book!
November 25, 2009 at 2:15 PM
booklady said…
A fantastic beginning to a new series that will make kids beg for more. The world that the author has created is real and exciting. Nye is a fully believable character, as likable as she is spirited. This book will leave you wanting that sequel right away.
March 11, 2010 at 1:43 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review: Fowl Play

By
  Fowl Play By Kristin O'Donnell Tubb New York: Katherine Tegen Books, 2024. Fiction 277 pages. Still reeling from her beloved uncle's death, Chloe Alvarez is comforted and confused when at his last will and testament reading, Uncle Will gifts her his African Grey parrot, Charlie. Charlie has a robust vocabulary and loves to make Alexa requests for her favorite songs, but when she starts saying things like, "homicide," and "cyanide," Chloe becomes convinced that Uncle Will may have met his demise by murder instead of a genetic disease, as was previously thought. Ultimately, bringing in her brother, Grammy, and Uncle Frank (and of course Charlie,) Chloe's ragtag and adoring family support her search for answers ---going on stakeouts, engaging in fast pursuits, and searching for clues. But as the suspects stack up and the mystery grows, Chole will learn that the process of death and grieving is complicated, and in the end her Uncle Will's words that, ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: Blood in the Water

By
Blood in the Water By Tiffany D. Jackson New York: Scholastic, 2025. Fiction. 255 pages. 12-year-old Kaylani McKinnon can't help but feel like a fish out of water. She's a Brooklyn girl spending her summer on Martha's Vineyard surrounded by wealthy family friends in their mansion. All she really wants is to stay home all summer where she her incarcerated father can easily reach her, and she can keep working to find ways to prove him innocent of fraud and embezzlement. Despite her protests, she finds herself on the island with the snooty granddaughters of her host. Soon after Kaylani's arrival, a popular teen boy is found murdered and she decides to conduct her own investigation. As she tries to discover what happened to Chadwick Cooper, Kaylani finds that not everything on Martha's Vineyard is as perfect as it appears. Thrillers for middle grade readers can be hard to find, but Tiffany D. Jackson succeeds in her first middle grade novel. A quick moving plot, tight d...
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: Alice with a Why

By
Alice with a Why By Anna James New York: Penguin, 2026. Fiction. 240 pgs. In 1919, in the aftermath of the first World War, Alyce is living with her grandmother in the English countryside. Her grandmother, also named Alice, tells Alyce (with a y) stories from her childhood adventures in a wonderful land filled with white rabbits and mad hatters. Alyce doesn't really believe the silly stories, she just misses her father who was killed in the war. One day, Alyce receives a mysterious invitation to tea, and subsequently falls into a pond where she is transported to Wonderland. Her grandmother, of course, is that Alice. Alyce is prompted by the Mad Hatter, Dormouse, and March Hare to seek out the Time Being and put an end to the war between the Sun King and the Queen of the Moon. Thus begins Alyce's adventure through Wonderland. I have a certain soft spot for the original story of Alice in Wonderland. It is one of my particular favorites and I often have a hard time reading new int...
Post a Comment
Read more