Bound To Stay Bound

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Bulletin for the Center... - 04/01/2016 Daniel’s not necessarily strutting through middle school, but he’s pretty sure he’s doing okay. He may be a second-string player, but he’s on the football team; he doesn’t have a girlfriend, but luscious Raya talks to him; he’s only got one friend, Max, but he’s a good one; his older brother’s a jerk, but his parents and sister generally have his back. He tries not to think too much about the obsessive nighttime rituals that keep him counting toothbrush strokes, flicks of the light switch, and steps to the bedroom, rendering him sleepless and in tears. Sara, the girl who never talks and is always accompanied by a teacher assistant at school, actually speaks to him one day, telling him he’s a special Star Child like herself and admitting she’s plagued by multiple emotional disorders. She also manages to enlist him in her personal quest to prove that her mother’s boyfriend, John, murdered her father. As Sara and Daniel stumble their way through a convincingly adolescent game of cat and mouse, Sara begins to use her voice and Daniel confronts the fact that he’s got a significant problem of his own, but one that’s not beyond help. King’s at his best following Daniel’s compulsive behaviors and his ever-weakening efforts at denial. The murder mystery, however, isn’t fooling anyone, and it culminates in the predictable revelation that John is a good guy after all. Moreover, King leaves the budding Daniel/Raya romance up for grabs and never gives much of a hint as to where the Daniel/Sara relationship might be headed. Still, Daniel’s a likable narrator who may well prompt readers to look around at their ever-so-slightly eccentric classmates with a bit more imagination and compassion. EB - Copyright 2016 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois.

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