Full Tilt

ANNOTATION

When sixteen-year-old Blake goes to a mysterious, by-invitation-only carnival he somehow knows that it could save his comatose brother, but soon learns that much more is at stake if he fails to meet the challenge presented there by the beautiful Cassandra.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Sixteen-year-old Blake has always been the responsible one in his dysfunctional family -- the one who drives safely, gets good grades, and looks after his wild younger brother, Quinn. Quinn is his brother's opposite -- a thrill-seeker who's always chasing the next scary rush, no matter what the cost. But Quinn and Blake are in for the surprise of their lives when they're thrust into the world of a bizarre phantom carnival -- and their souls are the price of admission.

In order to save his brother, and himself, Blake must survive seven different carnival rides before dawn. Seven rides...it sounds easy. But each ride is full of unexpected dangers, because each ride is a reflection of one of Blake's deepest fears. And the last ride is the worst one of all. Because that's the one that confronts Blake with a terrifying secret from his past -- a secret he's been running from for years.

Full of roller-coaster twists and turns, Neal Shusterman's latest page-turner is an Orpheus-like adventure into one boy's psyche.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

In a book that moves like one of the roller coasters it describes, a teenage boy must face a series of tests that represent his deepest fears in order to save his brother. Narrator Blake, a thoughtful 16-year-old student about to leave home for an early college career, follows his daredevil brother, Quinn, into a haunted amusement park. Once inside, he learns the park's sinister secret: he must finish seven rides by sunrise, or become trapped in the park forever. Ultimately, Blake is forced to confront the memory of a horrible bus accident from his early childhood, and the resulting fears and regrets that have stayed with him. Blake and Quinn are skillfully cast opposites: the former an orderly-minded, intellectual student who avoids risk, the latter an earring-studded adrenaline junkie who would rather flirt with death than be bored. Amusement parks, where chaos and order work hand in hand, make an ideal setting for coming-of-age stories (Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes, to which this book bears more than slight resemblance, being the best example). Despite the escalating surrealism of the rides, Shusterman keeps the narrative in Blake's matter-of-fact voice, making the tale oddly believable. But in the colorful blur of the park's tests and challenges, there is little time for deep character development, and Blake and Quinn evolve little beyond caricature. Ages 10-up. (June) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Children's Literature - Claudia Mills

Sixteen-year-old Blake is overly cautious and responsible, still gripped by memories of a harrowing bus accident he suffered as a young child, of which he was the sole survivor. His thirteen-year-old brother, Quinn, is overly wild and self-destructive, resisting their single mom's engagement to yet another loser boyfriend. The relationship between the two is tested and ultimately deepened when they enter the bizarre world of a phantom carnival, instructed by the alluring but demonic Cassandra that they must undergo seven harrowing rides before dawn￯﾿ﾽor remain captives of the carnival forever. The dark world of the carnival is reminiscent of Pleasure Island in Disney's Pinocchio, as hordes of jaded, thrill-seeking youths, such as Quinn, proceed blithely on to their doom. The rides themselves drag on for too many pages, with too many predictable cliff-hanging moments and narrow escapes, during which the reader may find his thoughts wandering: "Blake has to make it through this one; we're only up to page 100!" But Shusterman has a good grasp of teen psychology and orchestrates a moving reconciliation between Blake and Quinn, as Blake finally faces the truth of what really happened in his childhood bus tragedy and why he should no longer let it haunt him. Readers who want a horrific, disturbing (if somewhat overly drawn out) rollercoaster ride will welcome this one. 2003, Simon & Schuster,

VOYA - Nina Lindsay

Sixteen-year-old Blake is the "responsible" friend-the safe driver, the one who watches out for his brother, the one who offers to wait in line for the long carnival rides while his friends go on the rides he would just as soon miss. There is something else about Blake, however, that gains him an invitation to a roving carnival led by the strangely alluring Cassandra. When Blake's younger brother disappears inside, Blake enters with his friends-offering up his soul for admission. All they must do is survive seven rides before dawn, but these rides are not ordinary, of course. Each supernatural ride is specially designed for its rider, built on that person's deepest fears. As the night wears on, it appears that Blake is a survivor and that he might be the one to battle Cassandra to the end of her game. Shusterman, author of Downsiders (Simon & Schuster, 1999/VOYA August 1999), again pulls together a riveting thriller with interesting characters. Through horror and fantasy, he imparts a sense of how someone under pressure can find courage, a sense of what's "right," and live with decisions made. VOYA Codes: 4Q 4P J S (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses; Broad general YA appeal; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12). 2003, Simon & Schuster, 208p,

KLIATT - Paula Rohrlick

To quote from the review of the hardcover in KLIATT, May 2003: "It began the night we died on the Kamikaze..." Blake, age 16, finds himself living a nightmare when his wild, thrill-seeking younger brother Quinn is trapped inside a supernatural carnival. Blake and his friends Russ and Maggie must go after Quinn to save him, and they learn that they must survive seven different horrific rides before dawn—or lose Quinn, and their souls. Even worse, each ride embodies one of Blake's worst fears, leading up to a reenactment of a long-suppressed terror, a deadly bus accident from his childhood, and forcing him to confront his feelings of guilt over surviving it. Part psychological thriller, part horror story, this gripping tale by the author of Downsiders and other YA novels will have readers glued to the pages. Clever dialog and lots of carnival ride action help, too, and a red-tinged cover featuring a Ferris wheel and a pair of haunted eyes will draw readers in. A roller coaster ride of a book. KLIATT Codes: JS*—Exceptional book, recommended for junior and senior high school students. 2003, Simon & Schuster, Pulse, 201p., Ages 12 to 18.

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