Rita Morse and the Sinister Shadow

Rita Morse #1

by Holly Hook

Fourteen year-old Rita Morse is the kind of girl that the teen-hating Shadow Regime doesn’t like. She won’t put up with crap that isn’t fair. Ever. After she toilet-papers a video game store in retaliation for a ban on teens, the Regime, an army of immortals secretly trying to oppress teens all over the world, adds her to their list of threats. That’s not good, because the Regime’s enemies always disappear.

Now Rita’s in the biggest trouble of her life. She’s being stalked, threatened, and nearly kidnapped by shadow people. And the Regime isn’t the only danger: they also control countless humans around the world, some of which are much closer to Rita than she thinks. There’s nowhere to turn.

If Rita can’t learn the Shadow Regime’s reason for their war on teens—and her—she might not make it through her first week of high school.

Genres: Middle Grade

Nook

First published January 30, 2011

About the author

Holly Hook is the author of the Destroyers Series, which consists of five young adult books about teens who are walking disasters...literally. She is also the author of the Rita Morse series, a young adult fantasy series still in progress, and After These Messages, a short ya comedy. Currently she is writing Twisted, a spin-off of the Destroyers Series due out in December. When not writing, she enjoys reading books for teens, especially ya fantasy and paranormal series with a unique twist.

Reviews

[Grace Krispy]

Another fun book by Holly Hook (author of the Destroyer series), this book reads like a middle grade/ pre-teen story. The writing is clear and simple, and it’s in line with the reading level and plot development found in books geared for a younger audience. It’s missing a layer of complexity that I’d expect from a novel geared for young adult/ adult audiences. I got a decent feel for Rita and what she is like, but the overall character development wasn’t as strong as I would have liked in this story. More character development would have made for a fuller story.

The storyline itself was engaging and unique. One thing this author does really make it to create unique storylines that are both fun and surprising in some way. This story has some action and adventure, some science fiction features (including a touch of time travel), and a good dose of mystery. The pacing of the overall story is good and it kept my attention from the beginning to the end. I was never bored. As each piece of the mystery unravels, another mystery is added to the mix. The ending sets the stage for another book to follow Rita and her friends as they continue to battle against this regime.

[Matt Posner]

Disclosure: I was a volunteer reviewer and so read this book before it was published.

The cover really reveals the edgy comic spirit of Rita Morse. She is a teen with attitude, a problem-solver with smarts and skills. She is facing pretty tough enemies in the youth-hating shadow man A.Gist and his gang of mentally dominated thugs. Also, Holly Hook has invented the nastiest middle school biology teacher of all time (and I am a teacher myself, so I know what nasty teachers are like!!).

Read this book!

[Colleen Ray]

Eh. This was just okay. I lost interest about half way through, but forced myself to finish. The author could have used a good editor; there were many places where sentences began in first person and ended in third, which was very distracting. I realize this is written for a younger audience, but it shouldn't read like a young teen actually wrote it. it isn't a TERRIBLE book, but I won't be seeking out further work by this author.