The Healing Wars: Book I: The Shifter [Hardcover]

Janice Hardy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 6, 2009 | Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up | Series: The Healing Wars (Book 1)

Nya is an orphan struggling for survival in a city crippled by war. She is also a Taker—with her touch, she can heal injuries, pulling pain from another person into her own body. But unlike her sister, Tali, and the other Takers who become Healers' League apprentices, Nya's skill is flawed: She can't push that pain into pynvium, the enchanted metal used to store it. All she can do is shift it into another person, a dangerous skill that she must keep hidden from forces occupying her city. If discovered, she'd be used as a human weapon against her own people.

Rumors of another war make Nya's life harder, forcing her to take desperate risks just to find work and food. She pushes her luck too far and exposes her secret to a pain merchant eager to use her shifting ability for his own sinister purposes. At first Nya refuses, but when Tali and other League Healers mysteriously disappear, she's faced with some difficult choices. As her father used to say, principles are a bargain at any price; but how many will Nya have to sell to get Tali back alive?

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 8–10—In this first book in a planned trilogy, 15-year-old Nya and her younger sister, Tali, who were orphaned during the recent war that nearly destroyed their city, both have the gift of healing. Unlike Tali, though, Nya can't harmlessly shift the pain she takes from the sick and wounded into enchanted pynvium metal. Instead, she must shift it from person to person, a dangerous talent that she keeps hidden from the ruling Baseeri and from the Healer's League where Tali is an apprentice. Scrounging to make ends meet, Nya resorts to odd jobs and the occasional theft to stay alive. When a young soldier discovers her secret and implores her to save his dying father, Nya is forced to choose between protecting herself and acknowledging her ability to save others and perhaps her entire city. First-time author Hardy has written an inventive coming-of-age tale about a likable young woman whom readers will cheer throughout her exploits. Her appealing narration chronicles her expanding worldview as she progresses from a self-interested survivalist to a reluctant heroine to a determined rebel. Fantasy fans and those who just love a good story will enjoy this fast-paced novel and eagerly await book two.—Leah J. Sparks, formerly at Bowie Public Library, MD
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Review

In the tradition of strong-willed adventure heroines, Nya rallies, unleashing her powers as she faces complex moral dilemmas. Her first-person narration is suffused with the agony of deciding who will live or die. Timely ethical exploration in the guise of high-action fantasy. (Kirkus Reviews )

“Fantasy fans and those who just love a good story will enjoy this fast-paced novel and eagerly await book two.” (School Library Journal )

Nya’s distinctive first-person voice, strongly personable with a wry sense of humor, draws readers in…[the] hard-charging plot makes the pages fly by...Would you save someone’s life at the cost of unbearable pain to someone else?[Readers] will eagerly await the next volume of the Healing Wars. (The Horn Book )

“The headstrong Nya and the innovative premise...keep readers turning the pages.” (Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Balzer + Bray; 1 edition (October 6, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061747041
• ISBN-13: 978-0061747045
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.8 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #125,483 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

A long-time fantasy reader, Janice Hardy always wondered about the darker side of healing. For her fantasy trilogy THE HEALING WARS, she tapped into her own dark side to create a world where healing was dangerous, and those with the best intentions often made the worst choices. Her books include THE SHIFTER, BLUE FIRE, and the upcoming DARKFALL. She lives in Georgia with her husband, three cats and one very nervous freshwater eel. You can visit her online at www.janicehardy.com or chat with her about writing on her blog, The Other Side of the Story.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An Avid Teenage Reader's Opinion, November 2, 2009

By 

Alyssa M. Kirk "Teens Read and Write" (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Healing Wars: Book I: The Shifter (Hardcover)

When Healers lay hands on injured people they can absorb the injury and pain into their own bodies, and later move it from themselves into a stone called pynvium. At least they can in the medieval fantasy world created by Janice Hardy in her middle grade novel, The Shifter, due out in October.

The story centers around 15 year old Nya who is a Healer...but with a defect. She can only shift the pain and injury into other people, not pynvium. This little 'quirk' is something she and her younger sister, Talia, a normal healer, keep secret because they're not sure if the Duke would have Nya killed or use her as a weapon in his wars.

Talia lives at the League doing her regular healing stuff while Nya is left struggling on the streets, working when she can to keep from starving. Formally wealthy, the girls were orphaned and left penniless and alone when their parents were killed fighting during the last war. Talia helps her sister when she can but, for both their sakes, can't jeopardize her place in the league. The opening of the book finds Nya getting caught stealing eggs and I liked how the opening chase gets the story rolling with exciting action.

Soon Nya's secret is uncovered by a nefarious fellow and Talia is in eminent danger. Nya must use her gift in ways she dislikes in order to not only save her sister but other Healers in the league, and foil a political plot that could put the whole town in danger. In the process she also discovers abilities she never knew she had.

The Shifter starts out with a bang and, other than a few slow steps, keeps rolling quickly. Hardy covers a lot of ground. She touches on prejudice, moral choices, what should be given up for the greater good, family/friend loyalty, accepting yourself and others, personal sacrifice, and even throws in a pinch of romance between Nya and the young guard who chases her down in the first couple of pages. Every now and then the messages go to the brink of being too heavy handed but not too often and Hardy backs off just before becoming preachy.

Nya is likable and believable for the most part. She seemed to dither back and forth a lot. She'd have an epiphany but later rethink her position. That got mildly annoying about 3/4's into the book, but Nya and her little band of friends and family are characters you definitely care for and you're rooting for them to win in the end. Even the 'bad' guys had some depth and weren't simply two dimensional.

Hardy utilizes good description and some great lines. My favorite was when a ferry accident occurs during a storm and Nya can't get out into the water to help all the survivors. She says, "My heart reached farther than my hands ever could." How beautiful!

Good suspense, nasty political intrigue, a few surprises and a great twist on Nya's abilities. Overall The Shifter is a very enjoyable middle grade novel that is worth the read.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great quick read, February 14, 2010

By 

KaylingR "kaylingr" (Philadelphia, PA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Healing Wars: Book I: The Shifter (Hardcover)

Although I haven't been a regular YA reader in decades, I picked up "The Shifter" on recommendation and read like I was under the covers with a flashlight again. I was impressed with the complex moral situations Nya faces. I loved the political backdrop--recently conquered island trying to find a new normal--and the intricacies of pain and healing in this world. Nya acts fast and does her best thinking on the move. The two cracks in the spine where I succeeded in walking away are when Nya has too much time in a safe room with friends. But with 25 years on the heroine, it may not be fair of me to begrudge her hang-out time. Eagerly awaiting book 2!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Feisty heroine who can shift pain, November 10, 2009

By 

Darth Breather "DB" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Healing Wars: Book I: The Shifter (Hardcover)

This story is a fast, fun read, with engaging characters set in a beautifully-wrought world.

The teenage heroine Nya is a feisty and street-smart war-orphan in the defeated city of Geveg. Intensely loyal to her friends, thoughtful about the hard choices she must make, she's nevertheless always in the middle of the action. Even when in danger and afraid, she's good company.

Nya has the ability to absorb a person's pain. But unlike the Healers, who can lift pain and move it into the fantastic metal, pynvium, she can only shift it into another person. It's pretty useless, but in the course of rescuing her sister Tali, she finds she has another gift - one that makes her a dangerous weapon that her enemies will want to control.

The world Hardy has created is fascinating, and described in just enough detail to drawn a reader in without slowing the pace.