The Tension of Opposites

by Kristina McBride

Overview

Two years ago Noelle disappeared. Two long years of no leads, no word, no body. Since the abduction, Tessa, her best friend, has lived in a state of suspended animation. She has some friends but keeps them distant. Some interests, but she won't allow herself to become passionate about them. And guys? She can't get close—she knows what it is like to lose someone she really cared for. And then one day, the telephone rings. Noelle is alive. And maybe, just maybe, Tess can start to live again too.

A haunting psychological thriller taken straight from the headlines, The Tension of Opposites is a striking debut that explores the emotional aftermath a kidnapping can have on the victim and on the people she left behind.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781606842911
Publisher:	Lerner Publishing Group
Publication date:	01/01/2010
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	288
Lexile:	HL730L (what's this?)
File size:	560 KB
Age Range:	14 - 17 Years

About the Author

Kristina McBride has published two novels for young adults—THE TENSION OF OPPOSITES and ONE MOMENT. Kristina is a former high school English teacher and yearbook advisor, as well as an adjunct professor at Antioch University Midwest. Kristina has a thing for music, trees, purses, and chocolate. You might be surprised to learn that Kristina was almost kidnapped when she was a child. She also bookstalks people on a regular basis. Kristina lives in Ohio with her husband and two young children. Visit her online at http://www.kristinamcbride.com.

Editorial Reviews

Two years after the abduction of her best friend Noelle, sophomore Tessa has changed her entire life, isolating herself from friends and avoiding dating. So when Noelle miraculously returns, having found a way to have her kidnapper arrested, Tessa hopes to pick up where they left off and do all she can to ease Noelle’s return to their hometown. But Noelle now goes by Elle, and she doesn’t want Tessa’s help. Meanwhile, Max, a boy in Tessa’s photography class who she can’t help falling for, can’t stand to see Tessa keep putting Elle ahead of herself. Tessa’s pain is realistically drawn, and her recovery—which still pales with what Elle has to deal with—is authentic and hard-won; debut author McBride effectively uses Tessa’s love of photography as an expression of her growth. Tessa’s concern for what she sees as poor choices on Elle’s part (such as throwing herself into a relationship with an obnoxious football player), as well as her questions about Elle’s captivity create true tension in a well-paced story with some emotional punches that really connect. Ages 14–up. (May)

Publishers Weekly

Gr 6–10—Aspiring photographer Tessa McMullen's world was turned upside down two years ago when her best friend was abducted. Noelle has now escaped and been reunited with her family, but is much changed. She insists on being called Elle and is sullen, uncommunicative, and not at all interested in reestablishing the friendship. Tessa, meanwhile, put her life on hold during Noelle's absence and feels guilty about her growing attraction to fellow photographer Max. Eventually Tessa breaks through her friend's reserve, but Noelle/Elle continues to act in self-destructive ways. The first half of this novel is emotionally compelling and psychologically insightful, as readers get glimpses of both the nature of the accommodations Elle has had to endure in order to survive, and of the way in which Tessa is beginning to forge a more realistic view of the friend she formerly idealized. Unfortunately, the second half shifts into a kind of "Mean Girls" mode, as Elle's play for the big man on campus and resulting confrontation with his queen-bee girlfriend take center stage, and the ending is confusing. Ultimately, readers gain no real understanding of the effect of Elle's ordeal on who she is or may become.—Richard Luzer, Fair Haven Union High School, VT

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