The Decoding of Lana Morris [Hardcover]

Laura McNeal (Author), Tom McNeal (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 8, 2007

Sixteen-year-old Lana Morris wishes her life were different, that she were somewhere else, someone else. Her foster mother wants her gone, she's stuck taking care of the other kids in the house, she longs to become closer to her foster father, and the only cool people around refuse to acknowledge her. Then Lana stumbles into Miss Hekkity's mysterious shop, and she begins to realize that she might actually have the power to change things—to make some of her wishes come true. But wishing isn't always as harmless as it seems. . . .

Award-winning authors Laura and Tom McNeal weave a warmhearted and suspenseful story about the power—and danger—of a wish.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 8 Up—Lana Morris, 16, is the only non-"Snick" in a Nebraska foster home. "Snicks" are her neglectful foster mother's term for special-needs kids (SNKs). Lana is enormously lonely; kids in town are downright cruel to her, her foster mother is jealous and inattentive, and her foster father is too attentive (he and Lana share an attraction and, at one point, a kiss). Her only support comes from the mildly kind boy next door. Lana is often left in charge of the other children and has to cope as best she can with rough, complicated situations. She buys a drawing kit in an antique store and finds that anything she sketches comes to be. This is powerful stuff, and Lana learns quickly that you have to be careful what you wish for. She tries to do right, and things point to a happy ending, but the road there is very twisty. The McNeals have interesting turns of phrase and their language can be very evocative, but sometimes their characters have wisdom well beyond their years. The novel has too many issues piled on top of one another—the lives of foster children, coming of age, forbidden love, magic, self-reliance, first love, trusting others. Still, the writing is lovely and the characters are real people who elicit genuine feelings from readers. Give this story to your more mature readers who want some heft to their magical realism stories.—Geri Diorio, The Ridgefield Library, CT
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From Booklist

In this suburban Cinderella story, a wicked foster mother named Veronica rules 16-year-old Lana Morris' life. Lana spends her time carrying out Veronica's endless orders, basking in her handsome stepfather Whit's inappropriate yet flattering attention, or caring for four special needs kids, or "Snicks," as Veronica callously calls them. Lana's salvation arrives in the form of a thrift store drawing kit. Whatever she draws on the old paper seems to materialize; likewise, whatever she erases disappears. But Lana can't always control the drawings' outcomes, and soon she is in a terrible bind as she tries to save herself and the Snicks from the results of wishes gone awry. The authors of Crooked (1999), Zipped(2002), and Crushed (2005) offer up yet another complex and richly characterized story. What is different here is the shining thread of magical realism woven throughout, illuminating the authors' familiar yet well-wrought themes of betrayal, disillusionment, and hope. Jennifer Hubert
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers (May 8, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375831061
• ISBN-13: 978-0375831065
• Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 1 x 8.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,164,297 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars lana morris, May 23, 2007

By 

mary bickel - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Decoding of Lana Morris (Hardcover)

Anyone who has read any one of Tom and Laura McNeal's earlier young adult books does not need to be persuaded of their literary skill. The authors have a voice that speaks directly, clearly, and apparently efortlessly, to the hearts, minds, and souls of this age group. Their dilogue is bright and clever without being cute, and their stories move briskly.

The leading character of this latest book is a 16-year-old girl, Lana, who lives in a foster home along with four younger, disabled, special needs children, referred to as the Snicks. Lana's close association with them is enough to cause serious social problems for her, but sher has other more confusing concerns as well. Although she quickly shows herself to be strong-minded and determined, her life during this one Nebraska summer is challenging in many ways. Her travails, disappointments, discoveries, dreams and hopes make up the engaging plot. For me, however, the book's greatest appeal is in its treatment of the seldom-addressed subject of living with special needs children.

The authors describe the Snicks in a clear-eyed, realistic, matter-of-fact way that is invariably respectful. Each child's individual idiosyncracies are distinct; they're sometimes funny, sometimes aggravating, sometimes mystifying. But there is not the slightest hint of mockery in the descriptions of the comic moments, nor any sentimentality in the sad ones. Lana's, and the reader's, feelings toward these four characters grow from tolerance to affection to loving concern.

4.0 out of 5 stars Better than you thought, December 11, 2008

By 

Afshan Khan "b00kw0rm" (Long Island, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Decoding of Lana Morris (Hardcover)

The Decoding of Lana Morris is an entertaining book that shows Lana's fantasy side of life and reality. While you're reading the book, you'll wonder who to trust and the end is satisying, though a little too-good-to-be-true. As you turn every page, you realize Lana is growing up, little by little and by the end she becomes a mature teenager who knows what her heart wants.

4.0 out of 5 stars An Intense Teen Novel, September 20, 2008

By 

Sandra McLeod Humphrey "Children's Author and... (Minnetonka, MN United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Decoding of Lana Morris (Hardcover)

This is a wonderfully crafted teen novel, but sometimes I felt a little uncomfortable with sixteen-year-old Lana having to deal with so many problems: her treatment by her jealous and unsympathetic foster mother, the inappropriate advances (ambivalently encouraged by Lana) by her foster father, the cruelty of the kids in town, and her eventually becoming the major caretaker for the four special-needs kids in the foster home. I loved the magical drawing kit and all its dramatic ramifications, but what I loved most about this novel were the relationships: especially Lana's developing relationships with the four special-needs kids and with Chet, the boy next door. The relationships were very real and depicted with great sensitivity.