Elixir
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Super Kids: A Review of "Elixir" by Ted Galdi
Merrill
Jul 18, 2014 07:14AM
Elixir by Ted Galdi is a YA sci-fi/techno thriller. Now, I need to be forthright. I'm probably not the best person to review YA titles. I'm a crusty curmudgeon of 60 and for the last several years have been practicing my "get off my lawn" mantra in the event I ever live in a place where a child might actually wander over onto my grass. I've also been slowly adding to my collection of vintage metamucil and realizing I can answer the hard questions on Jeopardy five minutes after they've been asked. (A case of game show l'esprit de l'escalier syndrome.)
That said, let me sip a bit from my cup of prune juice before setting it down and getting to work. Elixir falls into that category of yarn that I call a "Super Kid" (SK) book. We've all read and enjoyed some of them. Perhaps the best known SK books ever written are the Harry Potter series, where the Super Kid's super ability is magic, but there have been many others. Steven King's Charlie from Firestarter, where the heroine is able to perform exactly what the title says. Katniss from The Hunger Games, who's a distaff version of Green Arrow but not as well fed. One of my personal SK favorites was teleporting Davy from Jumper (though they spoiled him for me when they cast Young Darth Vader for the lead role in the movie adaptation.)
Both SK and YA techno thrillers typically incorporate the following dramatic elements. These are:
The rest of the review is up at http://www.rule-set.com/blog
That said, let me sip a bit from my cup of prune juice before setting it down and getting to work. Elixir falls into that category of yarn that I call a "Super Kid" (SK) book. We've all read and enjoyed some of them. Perhaps the best known SK books ever written are the Harry Potter series, where the Super Kid's super ability is magic, but there have been many others. Steven King's Charlie from Firestarter, where the heroine is able to perform exactly what the title says. Katniss from The Hunger Games, who's a distaff version of Green Arrow but not as well fed. One of my personal SK favorites was teleporting Davy from Jumper (though they spoiled him for me when they cast Young Darth Vader for the lead role in the movie adaptation.)
Both SK and YA techno thrillers typically incorporate the following dramatic elements. These are:
The rest of the review is up at http://www.rule-set.com/blog
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