Customer Reviews

Firmament

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Oh, I loved this book! It's got such perfect emotional tension in it. The main character, Luke, is a gifted musician, like his father was, but ever since his dad died he's been kind of messed up. When the gang he's lowered himself to hang out with sets him up to break into an old lady's house, he discovers a mysterious child hidden inside and starts to wake up to himself. The writing is lovely, the stakes are all set up perfectly so that whenever Luke chooses to do the right thing somewhere, it pulls on another plot thread, and the connection with his music and his father is strong and satisfying. This is my first Tim Bowler book, but it won't be my last.

Luke is a highly gifted pianist but is uncertain of his place in the world. His grief over his father's death is still a deep pain for him, and he has turned this grief into a kind of anger at everyone and everything. He can't stand his mother's new boyfriend; he is sullen and rude to his teachers.

The only place he thinks he fits in is with local outcasts Daz, Speed and Skin. Totally ruled by the unstable Skin, all the boys follow Skin's every wish. All of this is just a way to "get through" for Luke, until one night when he is sent into Mrs. Little's house to look for something to steal. Once inside the dark, creepy house he follows the sound of a child's weeping voice and encounters a situation that totally changes his life.

As Luke becomes torn between helping the child and Mrs. Little, he also encounters the wrath of Skin and his gang. There is a great sense of tension as the story winds its way to the final scenes.

Some of the events toward the end of this book feel somewhat forced, but at the same time Tim Bowler is able to maintain a wonderful sense of magic through the characters. FIRMAMENT provides a wonderful coming-of-age story combined with an exciting edge of suspense.

--- Reviewed by Sally M. Tibbetts (stibbetts@maine207west.k12.il.us)