In *Undercurrent*, Paul Blackwell’s fast-paced YA thriller, sixteen-year-old Callum Harris survives a plummet over a waterfall, but wakes to find himself in a life that’s totally different from the one he knew.
His parents were separated. Now they’re together. His brother Cole was a sports star. Now he’s paralyzed. And Callum, who used to be quiet and sort of unpopular, is suddenly a jock with two hot girls after him.
But there’s one difference that matters more than all the others combined: His former best friend wants Callum dead. And he isn’t the only one.
Tense and original, *Undercurrent* is a psychological thrill-ride with sci-fi elements that will appeal to fans of Neil Gaiman and Neal Shusterman.
**
### From Booklist
In his first novel for young adults, Blackwell, a pseudonym for Canadian children’s author P. J. Bracegirdle, has fashioned a menacing, suspenseful thriller. Something is either very wrong with the town of Crystal Falls or very wrong with 16-year-old Callum Harris, a boy who has miraculously survived a trip over the waterfall the town is named for. He wakes up from his coma into a life that is very different than the one he remembers. Nerdy Cal finds himself a star athlete with more than one person who wants him dead in a grimier, bleaker version of the town he hates. He must now undo what has happened or accept his new reality. The ending is a little rushed and tidy, but Cal’s reactions are everything one would expect from an average teen boy who finds himself in a world that looks similar to his but is infinitely more dangerous. Hand this to fans of Mary Pearson’s The Adoration of Jenna Fox (2008), Michael Grant and Katherine Applegate’s Eve and Adam (2012), and the novels of Neal Shusterman. Grades 9-12. --Magan Szwarek
### Review
“A menacing, suspenseful thriller. Hand this to fans of Mary Pearson’s The Adoration of Jenna Fox (2008), Michael Grant and Katherine Applegate’s Eve and Adam (2012), and the novels of Neal Shusterman.” (Booklist)
“Blackwell writes with a crisp, clean style, keeping up suspense and providing nicely off-kilter elements in character and detail.” (Toronto Star)
“A pure concept thriller…the riveting opening and intense final scene will keep genre fans satisfied and breathless.” (Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books)
Description:
In *Undercurrent*, Paul Blackwell’s fast-paced YA thriller, sixteen-year-old Callum Harris survives a plummet over a waterfall, but wakes to find himself in a life that’s totally different from the one he knew.
His parents were separated. Now they’re together. His brother Cole was a sports star. Now he’s paralyzed. And Callum, who used to be quiet and sort of unpopular, is suddenly a jock with two hot girls after him.
But there’s one difference that matters more than all the others combined: His former best friend wants Callum dead. And he isn’t the only one.
Tense and original, *Undercurrent* is a psychological thrill-ride with sci-fi elements that will appeal to fans of Neil Gaiman and Neal Shusterman.
**
### From Booklist
In his first novel for young adults, Blackwell, a pseudonym for Canadian children’s author P. J. Bracegirdle, has fashioned a menacing, suspenseful thriller. Something is either very wrong with the town of Crystal Falls or very wrong with 16-year-old Callum Harris, a boy who has miraculously survived a trip over the waterfall the town is named for. He wakes up from his coma into a life that is very different than the one he remembers. Nerdy Cal finds himself a star athlete with more than one person who wants him dead in a grimier, bleaker version of the town he hates. He must now undo what has happened or accept his new reality. The ending is a little rushed and tidy, but Cal’s reactions are everything one would expect from an average teen boy who finds himself in a world that looks similar to his but is infinitely more dangerous. Hand this to fans of Mary Pearson’s The Adoration of Jenna Fox (2008), Michael Grant and Katherine Applegate’s Eve and Adam (2012), and the novels of Neal Shusterman. Grades 9-12. --Magan Szwarek
### Review
“A menacing, suspenseful thriller. Hand this to fans of Mary Pearson’s The Adoration of Jenna Fox (2008), Michael Grant and Katherine Applegate’s Eve and Adam (2012), and the novels of Neal Shusterman.” (Booklist)
“Blackwell writes with a crisp, clean style, keeping up suspense and providing nicely off-kilter elements in character and detail.” (Toronto Star)
“A pure concept thriller…the riveting opening and intense final scene will keep genre fans satisfied and breathless.” (Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books)
“Thoroughly enjoyable. A page-turner.” (VOYA)