Flinn, Alex. Fade to black.FLINN, Alex. Fade to black. HarperCollins, 192p. c2005. 0-06-056839-9. $16.99. (Library bdg: 0-06-056841-0. $17,89.) JS The facts are clear: Alex Crusan, an HIV-positive Cuban-American high school student who recently moved to small-town Pinedale, FL, was attacked in his car by someone with a baseball bat. He is now in the hospital with multiple injuries. Daria Bicknell, a special education (Down Syndrome Down syndrome, congenital disorder characterized by mild to severe mental retardation, slow physical development, and characteristic physical features. Down syndrome affects about 1 in every 730 live births and occurs in all populations equally. ) student, was a witness to the attack. But who was the assailant? Daria thinks it was fellow student Clinton Cole. Clinton was seen in the area that morning, and he's been vocal about his feelings about someone who might spread "the black plague": his little sister and Alex's are best friends, and Clinton wants Alex out of their lives. We get the story in alternating chapters from the three teenagers' points of view. Alex tells of his struggle to deal with his HIV-positive status and to cope with his overprotective o·ver·pro·tect tr.v. o·ver·pro·tect·ed, o·ver·pro·tect·ing, o·ver·pro·tects To protect too much; coddle: overprotected their children. mother, and his fear of having no future. He forms a friendship with a candy striper can·dy strip·er n. A volunteer worker in a hospital. at the hospital, and gradually decides to come clean about how he contracted HIV--it was from a brief relationship with a college girl, and not from a transfusion, as his family had told everyone. In blank Absent limitation or restriction. The term in blank is used in reference to negotiable instruments, such as checks or promissory notes. When such Commercial Paper is endorsed in blank, the designated payee signs his or her name only. verse, Daria tells about what she saw, and how it gets her much-desired attention from the other girls. And Clinton tells about his anger and what he really did: he is guilty, but not of this crime. In the end, telling the truth is difficult but liberating lib·er·ate tr.v. lib·er·at·ed, lib·er·at·ing, lib·er·ates 1. To set free, as from oppression, confinement, or foreign control. 2. Chemistry To release (a gas, for example) from combination. for all three young people. Flinn, a former attorney and author of the notable YA novels Breathing Underwater, Nothing to Lose, and Breaking Point, tells a convincing and wrenching tale of teens dealing with thorny thorn·y adj. thorn·i·er, thorn·i·est 1. Full of or covered with thorns. 2. Spiny. 3. Painfully controversial; vexatious: a thorny situation; thorny issues. issues. The three viewpoints effectively help the reader consider the plights and concerns of each character. A worthy and thought-provoking novel, with an eye-catching cover of a dark figure holding a bat against a backdrop of shattered shat·ter v. shat·tered, shat·ter·ing, shat·ters v.tr. 1. To cause to break or burst suddenly into pieces, as with a violent blow. 2. a. glass. Paula Rohrlick, KLIATT J--Recommended for junior high school students. The contents are of particular interest to young adolescents and their teachers. S--Recommended for senior high school students. |
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