Dolls, by Michael Hiebert, is an imaginative take on
adolescence. What we get in this well-crafted novel is a modern fable of
growing up, responsibility and letting go of past anger. It is a young teen learning the adult lesson
that people and things are not always what they appear to be.
Mr. Hiebert, is not a novice to writing, having crafted many
other works before Dolls. His writing
style is crisp and smooth. His editing near flawless. There is a reason he was recently signed by
Kensington. And while I have not read YA since my children were in that mode, I
read and thoroughly enjoyed Dolls. He writes the adolescent female voice so
well I thought he was a pseudonym, at first.
Having spoken to Mr. Hiebert, I can vouch that he is not a teenager
masquerading as a grown man.
Author
Synopsis
CAREFUL
WHAT YOU WISH FOR…
Kite Morgan's in sixth grade when she has her first fight. It's with a girl named Carla Bell, and Kite loses. She comes home and creates a paper doll resembling Carla and, in a fit of fury, runs the doll over with her little brother's Tonka truck.
Outside, sirens wail as emergency vehicles race past Kite's house.
Kite finds the real Carla Bell a half mile up the road, lying beneath the wheels of a real truck, looking exactly like the doll had on her dining room table. Comatose, Carla is taken to hospital.
Kite thinks it's more than a mere coincidence. Soon her theories are validated, launching her on an emotional rocket ship ride as she fully realizes the implications of possessing so much power and the responsibility that goes along with it.
Kite finds out the hard way, though, responsibility isn't all it's cracked up to be.
Kite Morgan's in sixth grade when she has her first fight. It's with a girl named Carla Bell, and Kite loses. She comes home and creates a paper doll resembling Carla and, in a fit of fury, runs the doll over with her little brother's Tonka truck.
Outside, sirens wail as emergency vehicles race past Kite's house.
Kite finds the real Carla Bell a half mile up the road, lying beneath the wheels of a real truck, looking exactly like the doll had on her dining room table. Comatose, Carla is taken to hospital.
Kite thinks it's more than a mere coincidence. Soon her theories are validated, launching her on an emotional rocket ship ride as she fully realizes the implications of possessing so much power and the responsibility that goes along with it.
Kite finds out the hard way, though, responsibility isn't all it's cracked up to be.
At 173 pages, this novel is a perfect length for middle
school classrooms everywhere. As a former teacher, I
would recommend it be considered for summer reading lists, so that students and
parents can both read it.
This is an excellent work and I give it 5 Triskeles.
Michael Hiebert is an award-winning author of novels and
short stories. His latest novel, Dream With Little Angels is being published by
Kensington Books and should be on shelves in the spring of 2013.
He lives in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, Canada,
where it's cold and wet in the winter and warm (and sometimes also wet) in the
summer. There are cougars, and bears and deer. He has a dog named Chloe, three
kids, and enough books that it became no fun to move quite a long time ago.
He likes to write surprising stories that cross genres, and
are often mysterious. He's been writing most of his life, but has really spent
the last decade perfecting his craft.
Michael's writing seems to be a blend of mystery and the
fantastic. He likes to find the redemption in the horrific; the surviving heart
still left beating among all the sorrow; the beautiful lost somewhere in all
the ugliness of the world.
He won the prestigious Surrey International Writer's
Conference Storyteller's Award twice in a row. This award is sponsored each
year by New York Times bestseller Diana Gabaldon and Jack Whyte.
Be sure to check out his blog at
http://www.michaelhiebert.com/blog/ and once you're on his site, sign up for
his newsletter. Members receive incredible discounts on his books. As Martha
Stewart would say, it's a good thing.
