Customer Reviews

Masked (Orca Soundings)

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

 

 

Excerpt:

...I feel her tremble, and I'm sorry about that. I'm sorry I have to scare her. But there's no other way. I watch the old man lower his hands to the cash cash register. I wonder how much money is in there...

Masked for me was envisioning with many unexpected turn of events. Norah McClintock has done a few Orca books as well as her popular novels published by Scholastic Canada. This is my second book by McClintock and although this one is placed on the pile for reluctant readers, I can't help but recommended this book to any YA books fanatic.

When I read, I like the feeling that I'm right by the characters side, (depending on who was telling the story from their point f view; Daniel, Rosie, or the masked man) feeling how they feel, thinking the way they think...it's real, so true.

Rosie, the daughter of the man whose store is getting robbed finds herself in a very sticky situation...maybe even more than Daniel, the boy who walks through the doors hoping for a grab and go rather than a stick up by a masked man. Corey (Rosie's boyfriend) who's somewhat a minor character in the story turns out to be quite essential himself...poor kid is waiting for Rosie to run off with but finds that people aren't always what they seem to be. Which brings me to story's' message...people aren't really honest with themselves, therefore dishonest with anyone in their path.

I was very impressed by McClintocks ability to write such as interesting story in a matter of 108 pages...the story came together really good too. This gets a 4/5 only because it's a little too short.

The book Masked by McClintock was a good read. I read it with my student who is in 10th grade. The subject material is grown up and appripriate for high schoolers.

I only gave this boook a 3/5 because the character development wasn't strong. It was limited on difficult vocabulary. The chapters were short and the story was predictable and fast paced.

The actions in a convenience store one afternoon change the lives of a small cast of characters. MASKED may be just over 100 pages, but the plot still takes many exciting twists and turns.

Daniel's real reason for stopping by has nothing to do with the beverages, snacks, and wrestling magazines that he places on the check-out counter. He is out to retrieve information for another businessman interested in obtaining the property where the convenience store is located. His request to use the restroom is just an excuse to get a peek at the company files.

As Daniel begins his undercover work, he hears the store owner call upstairs to someone named Rosie. Assuming that someone is the owner's wife, Daniel is surprised to see it is actually a girl his age - and he realizes that he knows her.

Rosie reluctantly enters through the backroom and seems irritated to have been called on to perform some petty task by her store-owner father. She has her own agenda, which involves the young man waiting impatiently upstairs. She was hoping not to have to deal with any store business ever again after today.

When a masked man holding a gun enters the picture, everyone is taken completely by surprise. He seems serious but not particularly competent in his role as criminal. Gathering all the available cash doesn't seem to be his main motivation.

Readers are in for some surprises as all the plot threads are pulled together. MASKED is loaded with the unexpected, making it a good book for teens and especially reluctant readers.

Reviewed by: Sally Kruger, aka "Readingjunky"