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Library | Call Number | Status |
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Searching... Lyons Public Library | JR WESTERFELD | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Mount Angel Public Library | YA WESTERFELD | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Newberg Public Library | TEEN WESTERFELD | Searching... Unknown |
Searching... Stayton Public Library | TEEN WESTERFELD | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
This is the first book in New York Times bestselling author Scott Westerfeld's Midnighters series.
A few nights after Jessica Day arrives in Bixby, Oklahoma, she wakes up at midnight to find the entire world frozen. For one secret hour each night, the town belongs to the dark creatures that haunt the shadows. And only a small group of people--Jessica included--is free to move about then. They are The Midnighters.
The Secret Hour is the first book in the Midnighters trilogy, from the acclaimed New York Times bestselling author of the Uglies series.
Author Notes
Scott Westerfeld was born in Dallas, Texas on May 5, 1963. He received a degree in philosophy from Vassar College in 1985. Before becoming a full time writer, he held several jobs including factory worker, software designer, editor, and substitute teacher. His works for young adults include the Uglies series, the Midnighters series, and The Last Days. He is the co-author of the Zeroes series written with Margo Lanagan and Deborah Biancotti. He also writes science fiction novels for adults. He has won numerous awards including a Special Citation for the 2000 Philip K. Dick Award for Evolution's Darling, a Victorian Premier's Award for So Yesterday, and an Aurealis Award for The Secret Hour.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (4)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 6-10-Moving when you're in high school is difficult enough, especially when your parents can't seem to hold their own lives together and your younger sister is being more obnoxious than usual. However, for 15-year-old Jessica Day, these concerns pale when bizarre things start to happen and she discovers that she now has unwanted magical powers. Part science fiction, part horror story, this novel is the first in a series about the midnighters, a select group of individuals whose birth at the stroke of midnight gives them the special ability to move about in a mysterious 25th hour. As Jessica takes her place among these extraordinary teens, she must battle the increasingly dangerous slithers and other darklings that have suddenly become more violent and aggressive. The story is exciting and the writing compelling. Gaps in the account will not bother readers, who will be totally absorbed by the paranormal elements as well as the intriguing characters, and who will be eagerly awaiting the next book.-Sharon Grover, Arlington County Department of Libraries, VA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Westerfeld (The Risen Empire) begins this inventive contemporary fantasy-first in a planned trilogy-as a new-kid-in-high-school story; he quickly introduces a few surreal bits and then begins revealing his secrets in careful increments. Jessica Day has moved to the odd town of Bixby, Okla., where the water tastes odd and, she is told, "gives you funny dreams." The misfits at school, Dess, Rex and Melissa, see a kindred spirit in Jessica: like them, she was born at nearly the exact stroke of midnight, giving her the ability to experience the 25th hour of each day, which is "rolled up too tight" for the rest of humanity even to notice. This lost hour has its own breed of predators ("darklings") who don't exist at any other time and who are terrified of stainless steel and 13-letter words; but ever since Jessica arrived in town, darkling activity has been on the rise. The story moves quickly, and the structure is satisfying-the author answers all the questions he highlights in this initial volume while leaving room for the plot to develop in the sequels. A devilishly unraveled loose end on the last page will ensure an audience for the next installment. Ages 12-up. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
Teenage Jessica moves to Bixby, Oklahoma, where, she discovers, time stops for an hour every night at midnight. She and a small group of fellow classmates are among the few who have the ability to experience this twenty-fifth hour of the day+along with dangerous, enemy creatures known as darklings. The premise is intriguing, but the novel goes on too long to sustain suspense. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
A thrilling series starter brings Jessica to Bixby High, where she gains mysterious powers. Though Jessica quickly becomes popular, she fascinates the light-hating school outcasts. Rex, Dess, Melissa, and Jonathan watch Jessica carefully until she awakens as a midnighter: one born at the stroke of midnight, free to move about in Bixby's magical 25th hour. In this blue-lit time, when all normal life is frozen, the midnighters enjoy their special abilities and easily avoid the dangerous darklings and slithers that roam the town. But when Jessica arrives, the midnight creatures increase in number and viciousness, and must be fought off with steel and 13-letter words. If the night children do not solve Jessica's mystery, midnight might never be safe for them again. A satisfying conclusion to Jessica's mystery leaves open intriguing interpersonal questions and the potential for a possible conspiracy to lead into the next volume. (Fiction. 12+) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.