Pucker - Hardcover

Melanie Gideon was brought up in Rhode Island. She now lives in Northern California with her family. Pucker is her second novel for young adults.

Grade 7 Up Thomas Quicksilver (born Thomas Gale) has lived half his 17 years with burn scars that earned him the nickname Pucker. However, neither the scars nor the change in his name is as traumatic as his adventures in the alternative world of Isaura, his birth home. There, Seers hold political power and failed or ruined humans immigrate only to become servants, or Changed, with no personal will. Thomas, who fled Isaura in childhood with his widowed mother, has adapted well to life in contemporary America. However, Serena is losing her life force and sends him on a mission to restore her Seerskin. Once Thomas returns to his homeland purportedly as one of the Changed he must avoid being identified by the natives, fight to keep alive his own will to find the Seerskin and return to Earth, become accustomed to his newly invoked movie-star good looks, and cope with other Changed ones, including a feisty girl with whom he falls in love. Gideon's many characters are nuanced and credible. None is perfect, and even those with major flaws are shown to have positive attributes. The parallel world, with its adherence to late-19th-century technology, offers much to ponder, not only by readers, but also by Thomas. The only shortcoming of this fascinating novel is its abrupt ending, which, at least, comes after he has re-immigrated to Earth and is living with both his recovering mother and his returned keloid scars. Francisca Goldsmith, Berkeley Public Library, CA
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