Customer Reviews

Shift

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
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Shift is a fabulous "what if..." read. For young adults and those of us who can't call ourselves that anymore, it is an engrossing tale with quickly familiar characters and vivid locations. It is a story of the importance of love, understanding, and inclusiveness, both within a family and beyond. It is also a story of possible consequences in a world where these values are lacking.
Shift is a book of double meanings, interesting literary references, and provocative ideas. Even the title has multiple interpretations. The book is an entertaining futuristic fantasy at the same time it is a searing criticism of current events. It challenges the reader while entertaining him; it repels him while grippng him. It might just be an important reality check for anyone who spends too much time in virtual worlds or too little time in serious thought. Or, it may just be a fun way for him or her to spend a rainy Sunday afternoon. I can't wait for the sequeal!

My daughter is a high school math teacher and life-long reader. Every day she puts the book or books she is reading out where kids can see them. Shift has gotten by far the most interest and several kids--at a very busy time of year--have read it and reported back that they *loved* it. On her recommendation I read it too! It's holiday time and would make a great present for any teen (or adult for that matter) who enjoys considering our society's present and near future. Technically sci-fi, in that it takes place in the near future, it does not rely on elements of magic or anything overtly supernatural. For anyone who liked Little Brother (Cory Doctorow), Hunger Games (Suzanne Collins), The Wind Singer (Nicholsen), Lois Lowry, or in general, quest or survival stories. Wonderfully written and gripping. Highly recommended.

Shift asks "what if?" and then dares to answer. It's a great book for kids who ponder the big questions and wonder about the future. Shift's world is dark, but there is hope. Our hero is a teenaged boy who stumbles into a situation where he might be able to prevent catastrophe. Add a penguin, quirky characters and a dash of romance, and you're in for a fun ride.

I think this book will appeal to many different readers, because there's so much packed into it. It's part adventure, part quest,and part futuristic fantasy. The plot includes missing persons, kidnappings, secret identities, cosmic signs, a climactic rescue, and more. Adrian, the main character and narrator, is someone you wish you could meet. As the book opens, his world seems kind of barren and bleak; you wouldn't want to live there, but you'd visit him if you could. One thing I liked about him was his fascination with oxymorons, and the book is full of them. It's both frightening and funny, it mixes reality and fantasy, and it's about finding and losing everything that matters - family, friends, faith, nature, even hope. It would be great to discuss in a group because it really makes you wonder.

This is a great YA book: a fast paced narratives and easily relatable characters make SHIFT seriously impossible to put down. Think penguin-kidnapping, road-trips, and normal teenager stuff rolled into one huge--and important!--adventure. SHIFT is a little sci-fi, a little reality, and a totally great read!

In fifteen-year-old Adrian's world, Homestate rules all aspects of society: identity cards need to be carried at all times and discussions and debates are strictly controlled. When an end-of-the-world threat emerges, Adrian refuses to accept it and sets out on a trip that could change the outcome of the universe. A fine story of survival emerges.

Adrian Havoc used to think he had the best of both worlds, but that was before his father never came back from the moon and his mother started stressing over work. His parents are people of science and math, employed, strangely, but the religious government called Homestate. Homestate controls everything in Adrian's home of Atro City, from simple things like admission to the zoo to mandatory religious education under the state religion. Now that Shift is approaching, the end of the world or so the government says, everything is about to change, and Adrian knows he can't be a part of it anymore. So he leaves, traveling north to search for a place of peace, but instead, he'll find the truth.

Shift is a peek into a hypothetical future world, and a scary one at that. Though terrifying to me, a government with absolute power over even personal matters such as religion, as in this novel, is not too farfetched, and Agell refines this to make it disturbingly real. As in most novels with dystopias, the plot is fast moving, suspenseful, and very original. The characters, on the other hand, were sometimes uninteresting and one-dimensional, although I enjoyed some of the quirkier characters such as Shriek and the penguin Mr. Baby Guy. Everything about this dysfunctional future is plausible; Agell even has it down to a science. The only issue with this is that most readers will not be able to understand the short or incomplete scientific explanations for various phenomena and may be confused, as I was at times. Nevertheless, Shift makes a profound statement about the relationship between religion, government, and the individual that will get the reader thinking.

Readers who enjoy futuristic or utopian novels, particularly Scott Westerfeld's Uglies series, The Bar Code Tattoo by Suzanne Weyn, and The Giver by Lois Lowry, will enjoy this thought provoking novel. I hope there will be a sequel or companion novel to Shift so I can get the rest of the incredible story I'm sure is there.

The story of Shift is so much more than the sum of its wonderful and intelligently drawn characters and their relational stories. Shift is a gift for the times we live in. Times of "heightened" security levels, code orange, the pain and joy of growing up, as a teenager, and as an adolescent country. What happens in your life when your world is unbearable? Can you make your own future? Do you want to try? If you are ready to accept the challenges, the hard things you will learn about yourself, your own history, the inventions created to protect you (by your real parents, and your figurative national parents), you may just be ready for the voyage told in Shift. It's a personal narrative of a teen who is wise, stubborn, fiercely independent, headstrong, leading with his heart - Adrian... he hasn't lost hope. He may represent the last hope for the future world Charlotte Agell has brought to life. These smart characters boldly take up their own role in the creation of "presence". This is a great book for adolescents of any age. I didn't want it to end.

Review from [...]

Title: Shift
Author: Charlotte Agell
Grade: B
Ideal Audience: Boys & Girls 12+

Summary: Adrian lives in a future world. The government, or "Homestate", has pretty much taken over the world, and controls practically every aspect of people's daily lives. They have also forced Christianity upon everybody (those who practice other religions are ostracized), and saying prayers and watching religious shows are mandatory.

Now the government has announced that the end of the world is coming. They call the end "Shift". Adrian isn't just going to sit around, though, waiting for Shift to come. Accompanied by a girl named Lenora, his sister, Shriek, and a baby penguin, he risks everything and heads north.

Adrian ends up discovering secrets about his government and his world that he never before imagined.

My thoughts: Shift is a brilliant concept, and Charlotte Agell conveyed the unsettling thought that a world similar to Adrian's might be looming in the not-so-far-off future. It is quite similar to The Giver by Lois Lowry.

The plot was great; my only complaint is that the writing was a little dry. If there is to be a sequel, I'd love if the writing was spiced up a bit more- became less impersonal, and more connected with the reader.