The exceptionals

Format:

Book

Title:

The exceptionals

Author:

Cashman, Erin (Erin Theresa), 1965-

ISBN:

9780823423354

Publication Information:

Physical Description:

236 pages ; 22 cm

Contents:

Prologue -- A Fateful Night -- Cambial Academy -- Specials -- A Stranger in the Woods -- An Almost-Normal Gathering -- Forbidden Talents -- The Secret Special -- A Despeate Cry -- Duplicity -- A Disturbing Dream -- Disappeared -- Dylan's Depature -- Crossroads -- Expelled -- Missing -- The Telekinesis Tournament -- The Healer -- Lost -- The Prophecy -- Ferana -- Uncle Christopher -- The Anipath -- Through the Tunnel -- A Night with Ferana -- Surrender -- Journey to Shadow Mountain -- The Death Machine -- Timothy Wilder -- Secret Passage -- The Black Wire -- The Exceptionals -- Good-bye.

Summary:

Fifteen-year-old Claire, apparently the only normal student at a school for people with supernatural powers, learns that she is the subject of a famous prophecy, and when fellow students start disappearing, she must use her ability to communicate with animals to help them.

Subject(s):

Paranormal fiction.

Ability -- Juvenile fiction.

Human-animal communication -- Juvenile fiction.

Schools -- Juvenile fiction.

Prophecies -- Juvenile fiction.

Missing persons -- Juvenile fiction.

Families -- Juvenile fiction.

Supernatural -- Fiction.

Ability -- Fiction.

Human-animal communication -- Fiction.

Schools -- Fiction.

Prophecies -- Fiction.

Missing persons -- Fiction.

Family life -- Fiction.

Genre:

Young adult literature.

Paranormal fiction -- Young adult.

Holds:

Available:*

Library	Call Number	Status
Searching... Silver Falls Library	YA CASHMAN	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

Born into a famous family of exceptionally talented people, fifteen-year-old Claire Walker has deliberately chosen to live an average life. But everything changes the night of the Spring Fling, when her parents decide it's high time she transferred to Cambial Academy--the prestigious boarding school that her great-grandfather founded for students with supernatural abilities.

Despite her attempts to blend in, Claire stands out at Cambial simply because she is normal. But unbeknownst to her new friends, she has a powerful gift she considers too lame to admit. Suddenly, the most talented students in school--the Exceptinals--begin to disappear. In an attempt to find out what happened to them, Claire comes across a prophecy foretelling a mysterious girl who will use her ability to save Cambial students from a dire fate. Could she be that girl? Claire decides there is only one way to find out: she must embrace her ability once and for all.

Reviews (6)

School Library Journal Review

Gr 7-10-Fifteen-year-old Claire Walker comes from a long line of exceptional people: mind readers, clairvoyants, mediums, telepaths, and mathematical geniuses. Unfortunately her special talent, hearing the thoughts of animals, doesn't rate quite highly enough to earn her entrance into Cambial Academy, a school for exceptionally talented young people that her great-grandfather founded, her siblings attend, and where the family lives since both her parents work there. However, when a disciplinary infraction forces Claire's parents to enroll her in the Academy, a series of mysterious disappearances sets off a chain of destruction long foretold in the visions of the clairvoyants. Claire must use her exceptional skill to discover the missing students and save her school, her family, and her home. Debut novelist Cashman delivers an engaging, exciting twist on the school story, introducing readers to a whole new set of supernatural skills and adventures. With its varied and intriguing cast of characters, The Exceptionals will appeal to a wide range of readers, all of whom will be eager to see if there will be forthcoming adventures at Cambial Academy.-Sara Saxton, Wasilla Meta-Rose Public Library, Wasilla, AK (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Publisher's Weekly Review

The long shadow of Harry Potter looms over Cashman's debut, a fantasy novel set at Cambial Academy, a boarding school for "special" students who can see the future, move objects with their minds, and so on. The idyllic school has a dark past: a former teacher once tried to subvert students for maniacal schemes. Fifteen-year-old protagonist Claire Walker presents herself as an ordinary girl at a school of freaks, but it's a lie. Claire understands animals' thoughts; she just won't admit it. While other students work on honing their "specials," Claire wanders in the woods, meeting a mysterious guy named Dylan who questions her relentlessly, but slips away before anyone else sees him. When the school's top students begin disappearing, the pressure is on Claire to master her repressed "special" and discover the truth about Dylan. It's a pleasant read, and while too much derives from the Potter universe and superhero teams like the X-Men, Cashman knows how to craft natural dialogue and empathetic characters. Ages 12-up. Agent: Erica Spellman-Silverman, Trident Media Group. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Horn Book Review

Claire feels out of place as the only student at Cambial Academy without a known "special"--a supernatural gift. Her hidden ability to hear the thoughts of animals, however, may help her save the school from a rogue alumnus. Despite the novel's tendency to tell rather than show, the intriguing premise and likable characters will satisfy fans of magical boarding school stories. (c) Copyright 2012. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Kirkus Review

Mysterious goings-on at a boarding school for paranormally talented students feel very, very familiar. Alone in her family, Claire is unexceptional. While Claire has attended the public high school, telekinetic brother Billy and medium sister Charlotte go to Cambial, a boarding school for children with paranormal abilities, and her parents (father: code breaker; mother: truth seeker) are administrators there. A night of partying gone wrong finds her enrolled at Cambial. She quickly settles in with teachers and students, most agreeable, some not. But it turns out she is exceptional after all: She can hear animals' thoughts. While secretly practicing in the woods, she encounters Dylan, a mysterious and "exceptionally handsome" young man with "long, dark eyelashes framing beautiful green eyes." Even as the students prep for the annual telekinesis tournament, some of their most talented begin to disappear. It appears an enemy of Cambial is not dead but instead determined to bring it down. It will take a Chosen One to thwart him. Well-worn characters and plot churn their way toward a climax with the deranged villain, who explains his entire plot to the gathered protagonists. Readers will likely find Claire's embarrassingly instantaneous attraction to Dylan both stupid and distasteful. Claire's entertaining exchanges with a campus cat stand out as fresh and enjoyable; the rest is painfully derivative. (Paranormal romance/mystery. 11-15)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Booklist Review

Cashman's debut novel is highly reminiscent of Marvel Comic's X-Men, including the fact that there's a school to train students with special talents like telekinesis and clairvoyance. Fifteen-year-old Claire's life is centered on Cambial Academy, where her parents work and which both her siblings attend. Claire herself is ordinary; her ability to hear animal thoughts is not recognized as special. She feels as if she doesn't belong, which echoes every teenager's experience, and is a highly sympathetic character. When she meets a mysterious boy named Dylan in the woods, their instant attraction dovetails with several disappearances. There is, of course, an evil man and a world-ending machine, which Claire must disable to save everyone, but in doing so she will have to sacrifice herself. Despite being wreathed in formulaic plotting, the writing is lively and the animal interactions intriguing. Claire deals with red herrings and shifting loyalties while she struggles to control her special and come to terms with her prophesied destiny. The ending is left open for a sequel.--Osborne, Charli Copyright 2010 Booklist

Library Journal Review

Cashman deserves credit for delivering a paranormal YA story with nary a vampire, werewolf, or zombie in sight. Claire Walker is the great-granddaughter of the founder of Cambrial, a boarding school for teens with "special" talents like telekinesis and clairvoyance. Although Claire isn't a "special," she can understand animals but downplays that ability. Naturally, that's the key to the secret prophecy involving a girl, a hawk, the school's destruction, and a death. When students start disappearing, Claire must stop it. Narrator Madeleine Lambert spends much of the book being either girlishly emo or boyishly nasal. She's more effective with the adults, though they are nearly all incompetent. The animals are the best-written and -voiced characters despite limited dialog. VERDICT YAs up to roughly 16 or so may enjoy this, but it's too simplistic and obvious for older teens. Public libraries that are substituting for school libraries will probably want it because it has a strong female heroine, almost superhero-ish, who saves the day.-Jodi L. Israel, MLS, Birmingham, AL (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.