Alyzon Whitestarr [Paperback]

Isobelle Carmody (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 22, 2010

Crushes, concerts, and conspiracies collide in this paranormal romance for teens!Contemporary YA fiction gets a "super" twist when award-winning author Isobelle Carmody applies her talent for adventure and suspense to a contemporary suburban setting and an offbeat, lovable cast of characters. The result is a young-adult novel with appeal for fans of everything from Twilight and Lost to Tamora Pierce and Ann Brashares.
Alyzon Whitestarr doesn't take after her musically talented father or her nocturnal, artistic mother. In fact, she's easily the most normal member of a very eccentric family . . . until the day that an accident leaves her more unique than she ever could have dreamed.
Suddenly Alyzon's senses and perceptions are enhanced to the nth degree. Colors are more vibrant, her memory is flawless, and even her sister's cooking tastes exquisite.
But strangest of all is Alyzon's sense of smell. Through it, she can discern a person's essential nature and perceive the moods and intentions of others. Her new best friend smells of a comforting sea breeze. She registers her father's contentment as the sweet scent of caramelized sugar, and his anxiety over bills is acrid as ammonia. So why does the cutest guy in school smell so rancid? And what reason could he possibly have to ask her on a date?
With Alyzon's extrasensory perception comes intrigue, danger, and romance. Will being different prove to be a blessing or a curse?
First published in Australia in 2006, Alyzon Whitestarr won two Aurealis Awards for outstanding sci-fi and YA writing.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Isobelle Carmody began the first novel of her highly acclaimed Obernewtyn Chronicles while she was still in high school. The series has established her at the forefront of fantasy writing in Australia.

In addition to her young-adult novels, such as the Obernewtyn Chronicles and Alyzon Whitestarr, Isobelle's published works include several middle-grade fantasies. Her still-unfinished Gateway Trilogy has been favorably compared to The Wizard of Oz and the Chronicles of Narnia. The Little Fur quartet is an eco-fantasy starring a half-elf, half-troll heroine and is fully illustrated by the author herself.

Isobelle's most recent picture book, Magic Night, is a collaboration with illustrator Declan Lee. Originally published in Australia as The Wrong Thing, the book features an ordinary housecat who stumbles upon something otherworldly. Across all her writing, Isobelle shows a talent for balancing the mundane and the fantastic.

Isobelle was the guest of honor at the 2007 Australian National Science Fiction Convention. She has received numerous honors for her writing, including multiple Aurealis Awards and Children's Book Council of Australia Awards.

She currently divides her time between her home on the Great Ocean Road in Australia and her travels abroad with her partner and daughter.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Paperback: 512 pages
• Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers; 1 Reprint edition (June 22, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375839399
• ISBN-13: 978-0375839399
• Product Dimensions: 5.6 x 1.4 x 8.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,185,192 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #76 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Religion & Spirituality > Fiction > Visionary Fiction

More About the Author

ISOBELLE CARMODY is an Australian writer of science fiction, fantasy, children's and juvenile literature. She divides her time between a home on the Great Ocean Road in Australia and her travels abroad. Isobelle began work on the highly acclaimed Obernewtyn Chronicles when she was just fourteen years old. She continued to work on these while completing a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in literature and philosophy, followed by a cadetship in journalism. The first two books in the Obernewtyn series were short listed for the CBC Children's Book of the Year in the Older Readers category; Scatterlings won Talking book of the Year. The Gathering was a joint winner of the 1993 CBC Book of the Year Award and the 1994 Children's Literature Peace Prize. Greylands won an Aurealis Award and a White Raven at Bologna, while Billy Thunder and the Night Gate was shortlisted for the Patricia Wrightson Prize for Children's Literature in the 2001 NSW Premier's Literary Awards. Both Little Fur and A Fox Called Sorrow received BAAFTA Industry Awards for design. Alyzon Whitestarr won the coveted Golden Aurealis for overall best novel at the Aurealis Awards. With Nan Mc Nabb she was the participating editor of a two book collection of stories titled respectively The Wilful Eye and The Wicked Wood, released in 2011. Her most recent book The Red Wind won Book of the Year. She is currently working on the final book in the Obernewtyn Chronicles, The Red Queen.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Evil Disease, March 12, 2010

By 

Arthur W. Jordin (Smyrna, GA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Alyzon Whitestarr (Hardcover)

Alyzon Whitestarr (2005) is a standalone SF novel. It is probably set in contemporary Australia somewhere along the coastline.

In this novel, Alyzon Whitestarr is the middle kid among five children. Unlike the others, Alyzon has no special attributes.

Zambia Whitestarr is the mother of Alyzon and her siblings. She is an artist, although not wellknown.

Macoll Whitestarr is the father of Alyzon and her siblings. Mac is the lead guitarist for Losing the Rope, a local band.

Jesse Whitestarr is the eldest child. He plays a blues guitar in the bathroom and thinks deep thoughts.

Mirandah is the second child. She plays the saxophone. She loves Ricki, but has frequent lover's spats. Maybe that has something to do with her lack of tact.

Serenity is the fourth child. She plays the cello. Lately she has been telling people to call her Sybl. She has also adopted black as her color, but isn't into goth.

Luke is the baby. He is only a few months old, but has a very calm disposition.

Gilly Roundtree is a classmate of Alyzon. Her mother travels a lot, so she lives with her grandmother.

In this story, Alyzon has an accident. A car hatch closes on her head and she gets a concussion. She also has enhanced perceptions and a bit of synesthesia. She notices that everybody has a consistent scent that differs between individuals. She begins to believe that these scents are indicative of their character.

Some people have rotten scents, literally smelling like garbage or other foul stuff. She first notices such a smell from a Dr. Austin at the hospital. Then she smells such an odor from Harlen Sanderson, a widely admired guy in her school.

She also smells transient scents that seem to indicate various moods. Yet these scents differ among individuals. Her Da has an ammoniac scent when he is upset.

Her doctor tells Alyzon that the stronger perceptions will fade away, but they continue for a long while. Alyzon develops mental tricks to shield her from these strong sensations. Mathematics seems to work the best in reducing these effects.

She finds that she can communicate with animals through scents. Wombat -- the family cat -- begins to have long sessions with her. She also makes strong impressions on other animals.

When Alyzon returns to school, she finds that these scents change her feelings for some persons. Her English teacher -- Mrs. Barker -- smells as great as Alyzon expected and Gilly becomes her best friend. But Alyzon tries her best to avoid Harlen.

Alyzon begins to worry about her sister Serenity. Normally she has a violet scent, but her Sybl persona has a licorice odor. She also sounds paranoid, asking if Alyzon is following her.

This tale introduces Alyzon to friends of Gilly, who become her friends as well. They discover that Serenity is meeting with a poetry group at the library, but this group seems to have gang connections. Alyzon also meets Davey, a sweet man with an unseen companion named Simon.

This story has a scientific rationale behind the enhanced perceptions and the evil scents, but the storyline reads more like a dark fantasy. The disease that causes the sickening scents appears to amplify the Id, the least civilized part of the mind. Then it drives these sick individuals to spread the infection.

Highly recommended for Carmody fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of strange powers, evil influences, and young heroines.

-Arthur W. Jordin

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What if evil was a contagious disease?, August 10, 2009

By 

HHK "Fantasy/History Fan" (Plano, TX) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Alyzon Whitestarr (Hardcover)

I loved this book even though I am not a YA. The book was meaty with a nice page count. The premise was unusual.

Alyzon comes from a unique family of two artistic parents and 4 siblings. One day she gets a concussion and goes into a coma for a month. When she wakes up all her senses are heightened, particularly her sense of smell. She can smell the essence of a persons soul- both good and bad. She begins noticing that certain people smell rotten, and that this indicates the essence of their being is rotten too. As the pieces of the puzzle are woven together we see the mystery play out. The diverse story lines- her spacey Mom, Goth sister, musician Dad, all come together in the climax. This book was well written and engrossing!

The downsides:
1. I am not sure that the exact nature of the infectious evil was explained at the conclusion, which makes me wonder if a sequel is the works.

2. Unfortunately the author does not appear to have a website or blog to find out about her plan for this novel

3.The title does not indicate that this is actually a paranormal fantasy.

4.The cover art could be better. Again you would have to pick up the book and read the dust cover to realize the genre of this
book.

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome!, February 6, 2012

By 

Lexie Hex' Me! - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Alyzon Whitestarr (Hardcover)

Carmody is a great writer and her Obernewtyn series is one of my fav books. This book was fun, fast-paced and lovely. I enjoyed every page of it!