Michael Vey: the electric boy

I finished this book about week ago, so I should probably review it for y'all.  It's called Michael Vey: The Prisoner of Cell 25 by Richard Paul Evans.  It's a YA novel.  It's the first in a series.  It's sci-fi.  My mom read it and suggested it to me.  And I loved it.

Of course this type of book has been my bread and butter since I was ten, so of course I'm biased to like this genre, but this also makes me a little more critical if something isn't working.  But this book works.  From the first chilling chapter to the introduction of Michael to the action-packed finale, I was engaged, fascinated and left wanting more.  Exactly what I want from a book.

The initial chapter (like 2 pages) focuses on two nameless villains discussing "the last two" children they are looking for.  They have a million dollar bounty on both of these kids, because they need to find them quick because "you know how difficult they are to turn at this age."  Then they ominously mention Cell 25 as a place to put these kids if they can't be turned.  Terrifying, brief, lets us know how serious these villains are, and whets our appetite for more.  Though I will concede that this is not a new tactic.  (See Ender's Game and almost any other YA sci-fi novel...)  But I love this genre, so it works for me.

The second chapter (another short one) introduces us to Michael.  This could have been a throw-away chapter, Hi, my name is blah-blah, I'm special, read about me.  But I was really impressed by how much we learn about him, how clear his voice is, and how drawn into the story I was.  It starts: "It's not like I was looking for trouble.  I didn't have to.  At my height it just always found me."  Gold.  We learn a lot and want to know more.  The rest of the chapter is similar.  Michael is 14, lives in Idaho, is short and bullied, and has a huge secret.

We soon find out (if you didn't read the book jacket) that he is electric.  That is he can control electricity.  Over the course of the book we learn more about his abilities, the others that have abilities, and actually quite a bit about electricity itself.  This rooting in actual science make the abilities more believable and intriguing.  Clearly, the author did some heavy duty research and I appreciate the realistic credentials it lends to the story.

More about character voice: Michael's is pitch perfect.  From the first few chapters, we get small details that inform his character.  (He thinks rice krispies are the best food invented, he knows ninth grade is the armpit of life...)  These are great and having them peppered in the story giving Michael a more realistic feel and a genuinely 14-year-old point of view.  Also, POV in first person, at least when we are following Michael around (which is most of the time).  But we do slip into third person to see events that Michael is not privy to.  I didn't have a problem with this.  I know having 1st person, especially in a YA novel, makes sense since the reader is that much closer to the character.  So I couldn't decide if there was really any way to do this better.  We need to know about the other things that happen, but I don't think we need to sacrifice the 1st person of Michael just to have a little smoother transition from character to character throughout the book.  Like I said, I didn't see a problem here, but others might so thought I mention it to see if you have any further comments on this issue.

More about action:  There is a pretty long action sequence at the end (which I zoomed through) and it's executed superbly.  Many of the characters are very intelligent and some have powerful abilities.  This combination made a great climax because Evans utilized both smartly.  And once it was over, I wanted to read about them to continuing on their quest (it is the beginning of a series).

So I have to say, mission accomplished for this book.  I enjoyed what I read and wanted more.  So I recommend checking it out.