Fracture

Gr 8 Up—When Delaney Maxwell, 17, falls through the ice, her best friend, Decker, saves her, but not until 11 minutes have passed. After six days in a coma, she wakes up with few side effects. Her MRI indicates brain damage, but she seems to show no signs of it. Of course, it causes concern that her hands tremble, and she is strangely drawn to people who are about to die. Delaney meets mysterious Troy, 19, who knows all about her situation and is drawn to the same dying people. Decker is obviously in love with Delaney, and she with him, even though they are both trying to fight this change in their close friendship. With the additional tension that Troy adds to the mix, Delaney's strange attraction to people on the brink of death, and strain among their circle of friends and families, readers are never sure if the pair will ever be together. The story sometimes seems to be headed toward the supernatural, and then it suddenly makes a sharp turn toward realistic science, and then back again. The love triangle, combined with the allure of danger, will carry readers through this story that pulls them back every time they might feel ready to give up.—Jake Pettit, Thompson Valley High School, Loveland, CO