Foreshadowing

by Marcus Sedgwick

Book Review

Publishers Weekly :

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Starred Review. Sedgwick's (The Dark Horse) powerful and haunting WWI story probes ideas of death and healing, fate and free will. Alexandra (Sasha) has the gift, or curse, of foreseeing a person's death. "I was five when I first saw the future," the book begins, as Sasha describes knowing that her friend Clare would soon die. Her next vision comes when she turns 17, and then they occur frequently. She tries talking to her parents about her gift, but it makes them uncomfortable, and they dismiss it. WW I rages in France, and Sasha volunteers as a nurse; she foresees the death of several hospitalized soldiers. Then she dreams her eldest brother Edgar will die in the war; while touching a postcard he sent, she hears his voice say, "I must go now. I am dead." Some time later, Sasha experiences a vivid dream where she sees her beloved brother Tom, also a soldier, being shot. Sasha secretly travels to France hoping to prevent Tom's death. Threre she meets Hoodoo Jack, who can also foresee the future, and who helps her try and save Tom, even as he tries to convince Sasha that her vision will prevail. Readers will be immediately drawn in to Sasha's intimate retelling of her horrific experiences as she recounts her tale from her first vision to her last. Ages 10-up. (June)

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School Library Journal :

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Gr 8 Up–This is a coherent and well-developed historical novel that, despite elements of the paranormal, paints a very real picture of the era. Seventeen-year-old Alexandra has foreseen the death of others since she was a child, but no one believes her or wants to talk about her uncanny ability. As World War I breaks out, she is tormented by almost daily visions, nightmares, and premonitions, yet she strives to become a nurse, despite her father's objections. Alexandra's brothers both end up on the front lines. Having foreseen the death of Edgar before the telegram arrives, the teen makes plans to escape her confined life in Brighton and make her way to France to try to find and save her other brother, Tom. This first-person narrative develops the characters well and readers will empathize with Alexandra and her struggles. She challenges her family's views and strikes out on her own in order to make a difference. This novel provides the female perspective of war and the chaos and trauma that nurses dealt with, along with women's role in society in England around 1915.–Dylan Thomarie, Johnstown High School, NY

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Book Review
: BookList :

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*Starred Review*

Gr. 8-11. “I have seen the future again, and it is death. I can no longer pretend it is my imagination.” As a young child, Alexandra (Sasha) saw that her friend would die. Now, at 17, her premonitions, always of death, have returned. It is 1915, and as World War I rages on, Sasha yearns to do something useful, like her father, a respected doctor in Brighton, England. Then her abstract terrors of war become immediate: one brother is killed; the other joins the army and disappears to France. In nightmares, Sasha sees his murder. Desperate to save him, she joins a volunteer nursing corps, hoping to find him on the battlefields. A few plot elements, such as Sasha's bond with a similarly clairvoyant soldier, feel contrived. But readers will be haunted by the unusually powerful, visceral view of war's horrors--the ruined landscapes of mud and wire, the gore and stench of mutilated bodies--in which the real and the supernatural are inextricably linked. In Sasha's compelling, urgent narrative, Sedgwick skillfully connects young peoples' struggles for power and self-determination with the deepest questions about fate, free will, and the meaning of patriotism. For more fiction about World War I, suggest the titles included in the Read-alikes “The War to End All Wars,” in Booklist's November 1, 2001, issue.
GillianEngberg.

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