From School Library Journal
Grade 7 Up–Oz, 15, knows that his mother's new boyfriend is up to something, and he has no one to turn to for help. As the situation rapidly deteriorates, the teen describes events in a series of letters addressed to his recently deceased father, a narrative device that occasionally rings false. In short order, the offensive boyfriend becomes an abusive stepfather and arranges to have Oz sent away to the Briarwood School. The institution is really a kind of prison for difficult teenagers, hidden on an island in Georgia's Okefenokee Swamp. As if that weren't bad enough, Oz suspects that Briarwood is really a front for a more sinister conspiracy. While the protagonist is a compelling narrator, the other characters are barely sketched. Uneven pacing and too many lucky accidents turn an intriguing plot into a messy series of confusing events. The captivating beginning may draw readers initially, but this title is strictly an additional purchase.
–Beth Gallego, Los Angeles Public Library, North Hollywood Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Gr. 8-11. A remote institution for incorrigible boys; a director-warden with an ulterior motive; an odd assortment of boys who support one another. Well, this no
Holes, but there's no getting away from the similarities. After being set up by his new stepfather, teenager Oswald Turner finds himself at Briarwood School, an institution in the middle of a Florida swamp, the only escape from which is by boat. His secretive roommates have found one, and after some hesitation, they include Oz in endeavors to rehab it and escape--a plan that becomes urgent after they discover that the wife of the school's ailing director is not only a sadist but also a thief. The narrative device--Oz's letters to his beloved father, who died----doesn't always work smoothly or allow much insight into secondary characters, and the villains are over-the-top vicious (with occasional rough language to match). But it's impossible not to be caught up by Oz's naivete or by his awkward struggle against truly wicked grown-ups, who mistakenly believe they have all the power.
Stephanie ZvirinCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
