Power of Un (Book)

Etchemendy, N. (2000). The power of un. New York, NY: Scholastic.

Genre: Science Fiction

Interest Level: 9 to 13 years

Subjects/Themes: Time Travel; Siblings;

Plot: Gib has just had one of the worst days of his life.  First he got into a fight with Rainy, his lab partner in science. Then Gib got her in trouble at school.  Now to get back at him, Rainy refuses to babysit Gib’s sister Roxy and he’s forced to take her to the big carnival.  That means no scary rides and therefore no fun as far as Gib is concerned.  That’s when Gib meets a mysterious old man in the woods who gives him a device that will allow him to ‘undo’ time and fix his mistakes.  Now Gib is desperately trying to undo a series of events that turn his bad day into a deadly one.

Personal Thoughts: A reader can easily identify with the chain of events happening in Gib’s life.  Gib comes from a stereotypically normal and happy family living in an apparently safe small town.  Boys with little sisters will especially understand both Gib’s love of and annoyance with his little sister.  I did have a hard time believing in the amount of freedom Gib has to wander alone both in the woods and at the carnival.  Gib’s honesty with his parents about talking to a stranger was reassuring, even if he did hide the content of the conversation.  Besides Gib, the characters in the story are fairly simple, providing to the story but not distracting from it.  Thought provoking, this book tackles issues such as free-will and consequences both big and small.  Younger children might be upset with the occurrence of deadly scenes, entirely realistic, that Gib is trying to prevent, but will be reassured with a happy ending.

Awards:

Bram Stoker Award Winner for Horror for Young Readers (2000)

Golden Duck’s Eleanor Cameron Award Winner for Middle Grades (2001)

Georgia Children's Book Award Winner for Grade 4 to 8 (2002/2003)

Other Books by Author: Cat in Glass and Other Tales of the Unnatural (2002). A dark fantasy collection for young adults. ALA’s Best Books for Young Adults list (2002).

Similar Materials:  A Wrinkle in Time (1962) by Madeleine L'Engle.

Note: A copy of this blog entry can also be found at https://tweenscifi.wordpress.com/ as part of my contributrion to a group collection of Notable Science Fiction titles for Tweens created for a LIBR 264 genre project.