The Scorpion Shards

Nearly driven mad by their emotions and their anger at a world that does not understand them, six teenagers manage, despite their extreme maladjustment to society, to discover their own unique talents and their destiny in life.

From Publishers Weekly

As in The Eyes of Kid Midas, Shusterman takes an outlandish comic-book concept and, through the sheer audacity and breadth of his imagination, makes it stunningly believable. His cast here might be a diseased and delinquent version of D.C. Comics' Justice League of America?each of six 15-year-olds suffers from a bizarre affliction that carries with it supernatural powers?and each affliction seems a gross distortion of a typical adolescent problem. Irresistible Michael, overwhelmed by lust, provokes killing fury in jealous men; Tory is being consumed by acne and poisons everything she touches; and so forth. Shusterman's unique vision, suspenseful pacing and empathy with teens' not-so-nice emotions will draw readers into this fabulous tale just as inexorably as its protagonists are impelled to find one another and discover the source of their malaises. A spellbinder. Ages 12-up. Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 6-9-Six 15-year-olds have struggled alone with gross exaggerations of common adolescent problems?from acne to obesity to raging hormones?until the night a supernova appears in the sky and draws them together. They begin to understand something about their amazing origins and, with the help of equal parts of astronomy, biology, and the tarot, decide to fight the parasitic monsters that have been consuming them. However, two of the teens give in to their monsters and avoid the Others in order to increase their own power. The climax comes in a confrontation between the foursome and the pair in a battle waged in this world and out of it for their own lives and souls as well as the fate of the Earth. This is a complex and convoluted story that fits more into the genres of fantasy and horror than science fiction. In the first third, the characters are introduced at length as the repulsive and dangerous young people they appear to be. While their initial escapades are unpleasant, readers suffering from similar afflictions may empathize with this group of misfits. Some readers may be shocked by the discussions of Michael's sexual tension, although the language used is circumspect throughout. Others may be offended by the fact that Winston, who is black, is the only character to speak in dialect. Once the foursome unite and begin to fight back, the pace picks up, the teens become more likable, and the novel becomes compelling and absorbing. The post-battle denouement finally allows stellar qualities to begin to shine, destruction to turn to repair, and readers to wish for a sequel to tell more about these interesting and unusual characters.Susan L. Rogers, Chestnut Hill Academy, PACopyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Gr. 8^-12. There are so many outsiders in YA fiction, it's time for a novel about the loneliness of being normal. But this isn't it, not by a long shot. No, Shusterman, author of The Eye of Kid Midas (1992), has thrown together six archetypal outsiders--the fat kid, the pimply kid, the sex symbol, the scaredy-cat, and the kid who loves to wreck things--and sent them on, yes, yet another perilous journey of self-discovery. There's one big difference here: these kids' inner demons are real, and they're eating them from the inside; unless they confront and exorcise the monsters, the jig is up. The horror novel comes of age? Well, not quite. With all the symbols, metaphors, archetypes--so much meaning clanging around in this book, it's hard for the characters to draw a breath. Still, the horror story is suspenseful and often compelling; if young readers can ignore the heavy-handed message--no easy task here, even for meaning-allergic teens--they might enjoy the tale, especially the scene where the kid who wrecks things demolishes a whole town. Bill Ott

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