The Darkness Rises

February 15, 2024
A Dallas high schooler struggles with the consequences of her secret gift. Whitney Lancaster was 7 when she first started seeing black clouds over people's heads. Her grandmother had the ability to see them, too. They're an alert that something ominous is about to happen to the person. Whitney's instinct to the gathering darkness is to warn people in some way, to tell them not to get on the highway or to offer advice: "You should go see your doctor. For a checkup." Sometimes it works, but sometimes it backfires, like that time she stopped classmate Dwight Hacken from jumping off a rooftop. Dwight's very much on her mind as Whitney starts senior year, her heart plagued by last year's shooting in which Dwight killed eight people, something for which she blames herself. If only she hadn't saved him, maybe those people would still be alive. It seems someone else feels that way, too; they're leaving threatening notes for Whitney, demanding a public confession--or else. In this thriller, Whitney must find out who's blackmailing her, and she must do so before someone close to her dies. Gun violence haunts this heartbreaking narrative that unfolds in incremental spates of panic. It's a heavy topic, but the treatment isn't heavy-handed. Whitney is a girl trying to juggle how to use her gift while also accepting the consequences of her choices. Most characters are cued white. A subtle commentary on the aftermath of gun violence. (content warning) (Paranormal thriller. 14-18)

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March 15, 2024
Grades 9-12 Ever since she was a child, Whitney could tell if someone was about to die by the dark cloud hanging over the person's head. Often, she could change the direction of the person's life so that they were no longer in danger. Her grandmother, who also has this gift, warns her to never tell anyone, but Whitney gets some satisfaction from recording details of the lives she saves in her journal. Then the teenage boy she talks out of suicide later goes on a shooting rampage at a football game, killing eight students plus himself and wounding others, including her beloved dance-team coach. Stricken with guilt, Whitney withdraws from dance, her friends, and family. A year later, someone who knows her secret is stalking her, threatening the people Whitney loves if she doesn't "confess." Readers will feel Whitney's anguish through her first-person narrative as she sees her options dwindle. Stokes peppers the novel with very plausible red herrings, although the discerning reader might spot an important clue hidden in plain sight early in the tightly plotted narrative.

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June 7, 2024

Gr 9 Up-Whitney has a secret-she can see dark clouds over people's heads when their deaths are imminent. This gift makes her feel special as she saves people's lives, but tragedy occurs when a boy she saves from dying by suicide commits a mass shooting at a high school football game. A year after the tragedy, Whitney feels like her gift is a curse and doesn't want to save anyone. The guilt she feels is tremendous, but she can't tell anyone she saved the one who then hurt so many. Only she and her grandmother, who shares her talent, know the truth-or so she thinks. Mysterious notes suddenly appear filled with threats about exposing what she's done and revealing all her magical secrets, unless she turns herself in as an accomplice. This mysterious person wants revenge for the tragedy. With twists and turns readers definitely won't expect, this story takes a very heavy topic and through speculative storytelling explores the reverse idea of the film It's a Wonderful Life; it's not about never being born, but the idea of not dying when you are supposed to, and the ripple effects on the future. Are all lives worth saving? And should you be the one to make those choices? Stokes knows how to write edge-of-your-seat scenes and excels at revealing tidbits of info just when readers need them-but still leaves one guessing what will happen next. VERDICT Suspense stories are in high demand with teens and this one won't disappoint. Readers will be left with their jaws hanging open when all is revealed.-Maria Ramusevic

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