Customer Reviews

Fade to Black

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

While the story is a straightforward mystery, the book is intriguing because of the characters. Alex and Clinton are believable, fallible young men who are at times sympathetic and at other times difficult or even detestable. They both love their sisters, their mothers, their fathers. These commonalities make their conflict all the more uneasy. Along with the HIV information, themes of alcoholism, abandonment, and what makes life livable weave in and out of the story. This strikes me as the sort of book that might appeal equally to male and female audiences.

This was a compelling read. I enjoyed the alternating perspectives of the three characters. I thought that this book offered several great messages and themes. This would make for a good teen discussion. There were also enough twists to make it interesting. I thought the author did a good job of going beyond expectations with the characters, creating depth to all three of the perspectives; both the "bully" and the "victim" were portrayed not just as those stereotypical roles. I also liked the inclusion of the Daria that was interesting addition. This is great quick pick, but with a lot of meat to make for excellent book club discussions.

I was just browsing the shelves looking for something that might interest an adult but be easy enough for a 4th-grade reading level (I tutor adult basic education) and this book was a pleasant surprise. I ended up devouring the book, and my student enjoys reading it even though he's reluctant to start. Good characters and development, good amount of mystery. Disappointed with the ending, but overall very pleasant.

Alex is a teenage who is HIV positive. Not many people want to be around him. This book shows the hardships that Alex has to go through. This book also shows how he has to deal with certain things. A boy named Clinton is one of Alex's worst enemies. Clinton hates Alex a lot. Can Alex turn Clinton into a friend and not an enemy? Read the book to find out.

**** I liked this book very much. This book shows what a person has to go through if they are HIV positive. I enjoyed this book very much. ****

Brandon Stabler, 14 years old.

Alejandro "Alex" Crusan is a seventeen-years-old Latino and HIV positive. His family moved from Miami to Pinedale, Florida. No one in his new school will touch him, much less befriend him. The only one that does not avoid Alex is Daria, the girl with Down Syndrome. Everyone avoids her too. But someone nearby hates Alex enough to learn his daily routine, followed by taking a baseball bat to Alex's car. The windows shatter, throwing tiny glass shards over Alex. The shards act as knives.

Daria does not lie. She tells the police what she saw. The police go after Clinton Cole.

Clinton has been very vocal on his feelings about Alex being HIV positive from the beginning. Everyone agrees with Clinton; however, no one believes Alex deserves what happened to him. When everyone begins avoiding Clinton, the teen starts to understand how Alex's isolation feels. Clinton swears he did not do it. Yet no one believes him.

**** Author Alex Flinn writes in a way that teens can relate to. She has taken a few taboo topics and created a mystery that young adults will enjoy trying to figure out, while learning about delicate subjects. I enjoyed the story very much and recommend it to all. ****

Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

Fade to Black
Alex Flinn

Crash, smash, crack! Someone has attacked Alex in his car en route to Duncan Donuts at 6:00 a.m. But who did it? A witness says she saw the suspect Clinton riding in the area, but was it really him? There's only one truth. Who will tell? HIV positive student, Alex Crusan was attacked one morning on his way to Duncan Donuts. A witness says she saw Clinton Cole riding his bike in the same area. Clinton has harassed Alex ever since the first day his family moved here, so it's easier to believe Clinton did it. However, Alex knew that his attacked was slim and Clinton is chubby, so it couldn't have been him. That morning Clinton went to the gas station to call his dad to wake him up. He went to the Gas-n-Sip instead of calling at home because he didn't want his mom to know. The real attacked was Davis McNeill, one of last year's seniors who played on the football team. Clinton has a letterman jacket just like Davis does, and that's why Alex thought his attacked could have been Clinton. This was an interesting book. It kept me waiting to see what happened next.
This book had some exciting twists. For most of the book, it seems like Clinton did attack Alex's car, but then at the end we find out that the attacker was slim and not chubby like Clinton. Even after we find out that Clinton didn't do anything, it still seems like Alex might tell the cops it was Clinton, just to get revenge on all the bad things he's done to him. Near the end of the book, there was still one question left unanswered. Why was Clinton at the Gas-n-Sip so early in the morning? Ever since his mother and father divorced, Clinton has called his dad every Monday morning to wake him up. His dad drinks too much on the weekends and says that Mondays are the hardest.
Clinton Cole was the most interesting character. He had three sides to him. He had a bully side, which he showed to Alex everyday, but he also had a softer side. He really cared about his dad and was sad that he'd moved away. Clinton was also sad about the fact that his dad was an alcoholic, but there was little he could do about that. Lastly, because his father wasn't at home, he had a protective side. Clinton felt that he was the man-of-the-house, and needed to protect his family. He threw the rock in the Crusan's window to scare them and to make sure that their daughter didn't play with his little sister because he didn't want her catching HIV.
This author has a creative way of writing. It felt like the reader was inside the minds of all the characters. Because Daria, the only witness, had Down Syndrome, Mrs. Flinn wrote in stanzas and the words were spaced out like how Daria might really talk. Each chapter was like a journal entry from each character. This helped the reader know who was talking. The author makes the reader sweat to find out what will happen next. Alex finally gets a chance to talk to Clinton one-on-one, while still in the hospital. He tells Clinton that he knows it wasn't him, but of course he hasn't told the police yet. In their meeting, the two reach an agreement. The Crusans can't afford to move anywhere else, so Clinton agrees to leave the family alone and not to harass Alex anymore.
Fade to Black was an interesting book. Even though Alex didn't have any friends throughout the whole book, he kept a cool head about it, until somebody crossed the line. In trying to figure out who his real attacked was, Alex was able to communicate with his mother and Clinton. Now both know how he feels and in some ways understand what he's going through.


(...)

I'm a huge fan of alex flinn's books, and this one def. does not disappoint. It's a little different from her other books because its in 3 viewpoints about the same thing. I really liked how Daria's sections were told in poetry showing how she thinks. If you read the review below, I'd be really curious how carefully this person read the book because he/she says she was waiting for 2 characters to get together and talk and they didn't, but I can't imagine which characters this person means. The whole book, I was waiting for Alex and Clinton to talk and when they did it was really great. There was also a really good ending with Alex and Jennifer. In the whole it was a really good and satisfying book. Definitely recommend!

This book is an absolute masterpiece. It shuold be required reading for all middle school or high school students, as well as teachers for those age groups. Does an excellent job dealing will hate crimes, prejudice, and hatred. Anyone reading this should be able to realize no matter how different we feel we or others are; we are far more alike than we would ever imagine.

Here's the story. It's really easy to follow. Alex Crusan, the new kid in town, is HIV-positive. Everyone at school avoids him, especially semi-popular jock Clinton Cole. One morning on his way to get donuts, Alex is attacked. Someone in a blue letterman's jacket bashes in the windshield of Alex's car with a baseball bat, injuring Alex in the attack. Daria Bickell, special ed student, sees Clinton at the scene. The answer is obvious: Clinton attacked Alex.

At least, the answer seems obvious.

As Alex, Clinton and Daria tell the story of the attack from their own points of view, we learn more about the events leading up to the attack and how their lives change after it. Alex makes the acquaintance of Jennifer, who turns out to be his friend for all the wrong reasons. He also decides to come clean about two major cover-ups in his life. Clinton faces trouble at home as well as at school. Daria, caught between what she knows and wanting to please her mother, reveals her side slowly, always concerned with doing the right thing.

As the saying goes, "There are two sides to every story, and somewhere in between, there is the truth." In this case, there are three sides to the story, and they're all handled very well. Clinton, though known for his bullying, is not an evil character without chance of redemption. Alex, tired of his family playing him for the innocent victim, grows up a lot in the ten days between the day of the accident and the day he returns to school.

Alex Flinn is the queen of writing troubled yet multidimensional teens, and she doesn't disappoint with FADE TO BLACK. Read it, and question all your first impressions.

--- Reviewed by Carlie Webber

This story is called Fade to Black and it is about a boy, Alex, who has a disease. Another boy, Clinton, and the whole school don't like Alex, because they don't want the disease and they tease him all the time. So one day Alex, the boy with the disease, was driving and his window crashed and he was all beat up and taken to the hospital. Everyone thought it was Clinton, because he treated Alex the worst. I thought this story was very good. It had a point, which was not to pick on people just because they look different and are different. The saddest part to me was when Alex and Clinton were talking in the hospital and started to understand each other better. To me this story was easy to understand and had a very good reason. I also liked the fact that the Author wrote the book as if the three characters wrote a diary, kind of. So I would rate this book