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Narrated by Gibson Frazier
Kenneth OppelUnabridged — 3 hours, 12 minutes
Narrated by Gibson Frazier
Kenneth OppelUnabridged — 3 hours, 12 minutes
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One of the strengths of the pacing is that for the first half of the book, the allies and villains are not completely distinguishable…Despite my hunches, I found myself deliciously unsure whom to side with for a number of pages…The Nest leaves a lasting mark on the memory, and by the end, Oppel tenderly champions the world of the broken and anxious, the sick and the flawed. Readers will find much to savor here, both scary and subtle.
★ 07/20/2015
Oppel (The Boundless) enters Gaimanesque territory with his portrayal of Steve, an older brother struggling with anxiety and his family’s distress after his newborn brother, Theodore, is diagnosed with a rare congenital disorder. After a curious gray and white wasp from the hive above their house stings Steve, he develops the ability to speak to the hive’s queen, who promises to replace the ailing baby with a new one. Agreeing to the queen’s offer, Steve confronts a dangerous traveling knife sharpener, his parents’ concerns over his mental health, and strange phone calls from Mr. Nobody, a family legend turned real, it seems. As Theodore’s health deteriorates, Steve must decide what is best for his brother and what he will do to save him. Oppel infuses the natural world of the hive with chilling scenes of the queen’s heartlessness (“Before you know it, you’ll forget all about that crappy little broken baby”) while Klassen’s graphite drawings hauntingly depict the family’s stress (an early image, all angles and shadows, shows Steve’s parents standing solemnly over the baby’s crib), as well as increasing tension between Theodore’s complications and the wasps’ growing power. In exploring the boundaries of science, self-determination, and belief, Oppel uses a dark and disturbing lens to produce an unnerving psychological thriller. Ages 8–12. Agent: Steven Malk, Writers House. (Oct.)
"A quick read, with the right amount of suspense and mystery. ...Recommended."
"A sophisticated horror story...frightening and uncanny but also deeply humane in its probing of the way value may be given to, and taken from, imperfect life."
*"Readers are challenged to examine questions about what "normal" is...all in the guise of a fantastical thriller."
"Striking and scary at once...The Nest leaves a lasting mark on the memory, and by the end, Oppel tenderly champions the world of the broken and anxious, the sick and the flawed. Readers will find much to savor here, both scary and subtle."
"Effectively taps into primal fears...a vicarious thrill."
* "a tight and focused story about the dangers of wishing things back to normal at any cost....the emotional resonance is deep, and Steve’s precarious interactions with the honey-voiced queen make one’s skin crawl."
*"With subtle, spine-chilling horror at its heart, this tale of triumph over monsters—both outside and in—is outstanding....Printz-winning, New York Times best-selling Oppel and Caldecott-winning Klassen are a match made in kid-lit heaven. Expect ample buzz."
With subtle, spine-chilling horror at its heart, this tale of triumph over monsters-both outside and in-is outstanding . . . a match made in kid-lit heaven.
A tight and focused story about the dangers of wishing things back to normal at any cost . . . the emotional resonance is deep, and Steve’s precarious interactions with the honey-voiced queen make one’s skin crawl.
A masterpiece, and deeply heartening proof that two of our country’s best artists are continuing to take risks and grow artistically, even at the height of their careers.
01/01/2016
Gr 5–8—Steve has a lot to worry about—the dark, the new baby that is struggling to survive, his parents, his sister, and the wasps that seem to be everywhere. His dreams are troubled, and he always sleeps buried in his blanket with just a breathing hole because it feels safer. But then, the "angels" appear in his dreams promising to make the baby better—to make the baby perfect—and all Steve has to do is say yes. However, Steve has no idea at what price the promised miracle comes. Soon, his peaceful dreams of kind angels begin to darken, and reality presents itself in terrifying twisted turns. Narrator Gibson Frazier's pacing is so smooth that readers will forget themselves as they are caught up in this increasingly horrifying tale. Frazier's vocal changes for each character are subtle but convincing and well in keeping with the haunting events of the story. VERDICT Listeners who are fond of horror and suspense will find a chilling tale awaits them in this well-done presentation. ["This affecting middle grade psychological thriller is recommended as a first purchase for libraries": SLJ 8/15 starred review of the S. & S. book.]—Deanna Romriell, Salt Lake City Public Library
Narrator Gibson Frazier’s gentle voice is well suited to this middle-grade tale of magical realism. Steve’s new baby brother is very ill, his parents are distracted, and a group of wasps is building a nest on the side of his house. When he begins communicating with the wasp queen in his dreams, Steve thinks he has found a fix for all his family’s troubles. But magical bargains rarely work out. Frazier’s tone fully captures Steve’s anxiety, and he performs in a sweetly poisonous voice for the wasp queen. Frazier’s narration will make listeners worry about the baby, and Steve. Listeners will be unable to turn this off until they hear how it all comes out. G.D. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine
★ 2015-07-15
Steven must fight for his own life as well as for his baby brother's when he's offered a chance to exchange human life for something better. Steve has figured out strategies to cope with many of his anxieties and OCD behaviors, but this summer the pressure is on. Readers see through Steve's eyes his parents' fears for the new baby, whose congenital health issues are complicated and unusual. Readers may find parallels with Skellig in the sibling anxiety and the odd encounter with a winged creature—but here the stranger is part of something sinister indeed. "We've come to help," assures the winged, slightly ethereal being who offers a solution to Steven in a dream. "We come when people are scared or in trouble. We come when there's grief." Oppel deftly conveys the fear and dislocation that can overwhelm a family: there's the baby born with problems, the ways that affects the family, and Steve's own struggles to feel and be normal. Everything feels a bit skewed, conveying the experience of being in transition from the familiar to the threateningly unfamiliar. Klassen's several illustrations in graphite, with their linear formality and stillness and only mere glimpses of people, nicely express this sense of worry and tension. Steve's battle with the enemy is terrifying, moving from an ominous, baleful verbal conflict to a pitched, physical, life-threatening battle. Compelling and accessible. (Fantasy. 9-12)
| BN ID: | 2940171234683 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Simon & Schuster |
| Publication date: | 10/06/2015 |
| Edition description: | Unabridged |
| Age Range: | 8 - 11 Years |
The Nest
THE FIRST TIME I SAW them, I thought they were angels. What else could they be, with their pale gossamer wings and the music that came off them, and the light that haloed them? Right away there was this feeling they’d been watching and waiting, that they knew me. They appeared in my dreams the tenth night after the baby was born.
Everything was a bit out of focus. I was standing in some kind of beautiful cave, with shimmering walls like white fabric, lit from outside. The angels were all peering down at me, floating in the air. Only one came close, so luminous and white. I don’t know how, but I knew it was a she. Light flowed from her. She was very blurry, not at all human-looking. There were huge dark eyes, and a kind of mane made of light, and when she spoke, I couldn’t see a mouth moving, but I felt her words, like a breeze against my face, and I understood her completely.
“We’ve come because of the baby,” she said. “We’ve come to help.”
Author Rob Buyea’s Because of Mr. Terupt, along with its sequels, Mr. Terupt Falls Again and Saving Mr. Terupt, immerse young readers in a middle school classroom filled with characters they’ll both recognize and relate to—from the new girl, to the bully, to the outcast—all of whom are navigating their way through the complicated, often painful world of adolescence. Buyea was a teacher […]
