Choices (Hardcover)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: zucchini loaf, lemon loaf, multiple universes, Aunt Lydia, Jay's Place, Michael Agius (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

If Kathleen had been able to drive the night her best friend got drunk, her brother, Nick, might have lived; he was killed driving to pick her up. Grief stricken, Kathleen begins to doubt her sanity. Did she get high with the outcasts last night or watch movies? Is her mom drinking all day or going to work? Then, along comes Luke, who claims to have been Nick's friend. He reveals that, like himself, Kathleen is a switcher (a person who can shift between parallel lives). When Kathleen discovers how to control her switching and that Luke actually caused Nick's death, she searches for the universe where Nick is still alive. In the meantime, she falls for Luke and finds herself facing a choice between her brother and her new love. The supernatural premise makes this book about choices and consequences stand out, and although Kathleen's conflicted emotions about Luke are too easily dealt with, readers will root for a couple so clearly drawn together. Booth, Heather

Review

Kirkus Reviews Starred Review

 

After the death of her brother Nick, Kathleen starts slipping between similar worlds. Each world is formed when people make choices: to turn away from a friend, to dye hair a startling color, to go to a party. Kathleen exists in all of the universes, but her multitude of selves all differ. In one universe, her mother drinks; in another, Kathleen?s her best friend; in yet another, she?s lashing out at everyone around her. Yet in all universes there are two constants: Fellow world-hopper Luke is always present, and Nick?s still dead. It?s Luke who finds Kathleen and explains to her what is happening, and who is the object of her increasingly ardent desires. Yet Kathleen?s burgeoning feelings for Luke aren?t enough to cure her grief, her rage or the lives that fall apart in every universe she inhabits. Kathleen?s melancholic tale does justice both to the moving story of a girl coming to terms with the death of her brother and to the magical adventure of a universe-shifting girl trying to find her way home. (Fantasy. 12-14)

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Roaring Brook Press (September 4, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1596432179
• ISBN-13: 978-1596432178
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,141,236 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Courtesy of Teens Read Too, September 5, 2007

By	TeensReadToo.com "Eat. Drink. Read. Be Merrier." (All Over the US & Canada) - See all my reviews

If only she had her driver's license. If only she wasn't afraid to drive. If only Jen hadn't gotten too drunk to drive home. If only she hadn't called Nick to come and get her. If only... If only...

Kathleen's life is altered on the night she goes to a party where her best friend gets too drunk to drive her home. Kathleen calls her brother, Nick, to pick her up, and being the great brother he is, he doesn't hesitate to get out on a cold and slippery night to rescue his little sister.

When police knock on the door of the party everyone assumes they're busted. Kathleen is given the job of stalling since she is sober. Instead, the police are there for her - to take her to the hospital where Nick was taken after he was hit on the way to pick her up.

Kathleen's life drastically changes after Nick's death. Her father isolates himself in his office watching sports on television and her mother begins drinking a little more every day. Kathleen is left feeling alone until she meets someone new at Nick's memorial service. Luke offers kindness and concern when no one else is focusing on her needs.

The night after the funeral Kathleen, full of sadness, falls asleep in Nick's bed. When she wakes up she realizes she isn't in the same "reality" as she was the day before. Little things aren't right. Jen, who she's been fighting with since the night of the party, so much so that she didn't even come to the funeral, shows up to take her to school on this particular morning like nothing had ever happened. They are still amazingly close. Confusion plagues Kathleen's mind all day. Finally, she realizes what is going on.

Kathleen realizes there are certain moments everyday when she makes decisions, and depending on what decision she makes, her life takes a different path. The problem for Kathleen is that she retains the memories of the previous path while she also has to live in the new one. All of these paths run parallel and go on at the same time with different consequences. Kathleen ends up splintering into several paths, which she keeps track of by the different names she gives to herself. She becomes Kay, Kate, and Kathy, in addition to her original self. Her major problem is that she doesn't know who she'll be when she wakes up in the morning. Her one constant is Luke. He manages to find her no matter who she is.

Deborah Lynn Jacobs has created a thought-provoking novel about the importance of life choices. Kathleen learns a lot about herself as she navigates her way through her many lives, attempting to reconcile with family, friends, and her own feelings about loss and love.

Reviewed by: Karin Perry

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Can you go back?, November 30, 2007

By	Kim Baccellia, YA author "Kim" (Southern California) - See all my reviews

Who hasn't wondered what could happen if you could go back in time and change a decision? I know in my own life there were times that I knew my life would be changed with one choice. And once I made that decision there was no turning back.

What about the possibility that your life can shift into different worlds? That's what faces Kathleen in the book, CHOICES.





Kathleen anguishes over the fact she might have been responsible for the death of her older brother. Then she finds herself shifting between worlds with each decision she makes. There is one stable thing in each reality, another time shifter, Luke. Kathleen feels comforted around him. Her friend Jen warns that he's a predator.

With each decision Kathleen makes-comes another reality. In one she's Kay, where her mother is coping with the death of her brother with alcohol. In yet another she's Kathy.

She wonders if she can go back to her brother in another universe where he might still be alive. At the end it's up to Kathleen to trust her instincts to see where she'll end up.

I enjoyed this story! I couldn't help wondering what would have happened if I'd been like Kathleen. Would I want to go back and redo some of my choices? Where would I be now if I had done things differently?

This has an interesting premise which will have the reader guessing what will happen with each of Kathleen's choices. The author shows a realistic portrayal of a teen not sure she's losing it or suffering from Post Traumatic Syndrome from the death of her brother.

The whole Luke scenario kept me on the edge of my seat. I didn't know whether Kathleen should listen to her friend Jen and avoid him or follow him.

I'd recommend this book to those who like not only a quick read but a book that makes you think about the choices we do make.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting Read, November 8, 2007

By	Katrina L. Burchett "Author of Young Adult Fi... (Florida) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

Kathleen is at a New Year's party with her friend, Jen, who is drunk. Since Kathleen can't drive, she calls her brother, Nick, for a ride home. It isn't Kathleen's brother who knocks on her friend's door but a policeman. He tells Kathleen that her brother has been in a car accident, and that he's been instructed to take her to the hospital. Sadly, she finds out that Nick died on impact.
Then it begins...Throughout the story things happen, but then it seems they didn't happen. Did these things happen? Yes, it seems so. But where did these happenings occur; in which Universe? And who experienced what, when; Kathleen or Kate or Kay or Kathy? And is it possible for Kathleen to see her brother again? And who is Luke, really?
Deborah Lynn Jacobs has one character, Kathleen, become four - no, I'm not talking about multiple personalities, although that's what I thought it was for a while - and my mind is stimulated to the last page with all of the "shifting". It also didn't escape my attention that family & friendship issues were worked out through it all. I don't know if I could have made the decision Kathleen made in the very end, but we all have our reasons for the choices we make. Paranormal isn't a genre I'm usually drawn to, but the title of this one got my attention. It was an interesting read penned by a very skilled writer.