Encounters

By Author / Illustrator

Jason Wallace

Genre

Adventure

Age range(s)

11+

Publisher

Andersen Press Ltd

ISBN

9781783445288

Format

Hardback

Published

04-05-2017

Synopsis

Zimbabwe, 1994. A group of children spot peculiar lights in the sky over the grounds of their school. From this moment on, six young people's lives are changed forever. Gary hides the anguish he feels now his mum's left, acting out in fury and hatred. Chloe has no words for the thing she fears most every day. Karl is the headmaster's son, now fallen from grace. Tendai knows he can never live up to his grieving father's ideals. And Sixpence watches all, knowing he'll never be like these other children. All of them have seen something they can't explain.In amongst these tangled, tortured lives, comes a group of psychologists to verify the spookily similar claims of every witness. Their daughter, Holly, can tell there's more to it than aliens or mass hysteria - can she reveal the dark truths that haunt them?Inspired by true accounts, this is the long-awaited new novel from Costa-award-winner Jason Wallace.

Reviews

Encounters by Jason Wallace is a multi-layered story that focuses on a group of young people whose lives are changed forever by a UFO sighting at their school in Zimbabwe during the 1990s. Yet this is no typical science fiction tale. From the very beginning, the reader is swept up into the complex and unsettling reality of these children's lives and we get to know each of them well, as each takes a turn at telling their own story and giving their perspective on the events surrounding the UFO sighting and its aftermath. Each individual, deftly drawn by Wallace, is troubled in his or her own way. There is angry, bigoted Gary whose mother has fled the family; little Chloe for whom trauma and fear are a daily reality; Tendai who lives in the shadow of his dead brother; Karl, the headmaster's son, who cannot live up to parental expectation; young Sixpence who lives on his wits in a world of poverty and violence, and finally teenage Holly whose psychologist parents have flown in from the USA to interview those who claim to have witnessed the UFO event. The short interview extracts that precede each section of the book give a documentary feel that pervades the text, as we examine events through six different characters, just as Holly's parents are examining the testimonies of the children involved. The author throws light on the deepest and darkest aspects of these young people's lives and is unflinching in his portrayal of their struggles. This book does not make comfortable reading. The theme that struck me most of all was that of the children's desperate sense of isolation and powerlessness in the face of adults who choose not to listen or to connect with their experiences. I particularly enjoyed the layers of plot that are built up as the story progresses, gradually adding new dimensions to events as additional perspectives are introduced. This is a challenging and thought-provoking read that I would recommend to teenagers of 14+. 320 pages / Age 14+ / Reviewed by Emily Marcuccilli, School Librarian