The Shibboleth

April 1, 2014

Gr 9 Up-While normal people are "incarcerado"-trapped in their own bodies-likable protagonist Shreve Cannon is not. He is, however, trapped in a psychiatric ward after having a psychotic episode upon being recaptured at the end of this trilogy's first novel. His best friend, Jack, has been taken by their nemesis, Mr. Quincrux. The three possess extraordinary abilities, aka "the shibboleth." Jack has the ability to fly, and Shreve is able to enter the minds of others and is capable of traveling over space while never leaving his body. Shreve escapes to try and find his friend and to discover the ominous messages sent to him from a mysterious Entity via "Riders" who can also hijack others' bodies. The protagonist is an admirable survivor, and his abilities have grown stronger, but he is caught once again. Once in the remote Montana wilderness, he is introduced to the Society of Extraordinaries, who are being kept by Quincrux as part of a government program. Like the X-Men in Marvel Comics, the young people he meets have various powers and are known by fitting code names. Fans of The Twelve-Fingered Boy (Carolrhoda Lab, 2012) will enjoy meeting these new characters and will reconnect with Shreve as he recounts his adventures with acerbic wit. Jacobs's writing is engaging, and the novel contains realistic, mature language. The cliff-hanger ending will leave readers eager to find out Shreve's role in defeating the Entity as it awakens.-Sherry J. Mills, Hazelwood East High School, St. Louis, MO

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from January 1, 2014
Grades 9-12 *Starred Review* Jacob's The Twelve-Fingered Boy (2012) was exactly what the teens-with-powers subgenre needed: a full-body beat down that reminded us that having such powers would really, really suck. This hefty sequel follows 16-year-old delinquent Shreve, who can possess people's bodies, as he shifts from juvenile facility to psych ward to, at last, the Society of Extranaturals, a boot camp of sorts for post-human kids run by the highly untrustworthy Mr. Quincrux. Their (supposed) goal: to destroy the elder that is causing a nationwide wave of deadly insomnia. This is a dyed-in-the-wool middle bookfilled with training, planning, and sinister omens, its chief achievement is to foment excitement for the finale. And in that it succeeds splendidly, courtesy of new friends and new foes, none of whom exist in either camp comfortably. As before, Shreve's appealing truculence is weighed down by the anguish of sharing the memories of too many damaged people. Jacobs works his ass off here; that's the best way to put it because you can feel the work, in the best of senses, to make each paragraph a battling push-pull of bruising toughness, electric wit, and dazzling metaphysicality. This fits uncomfortably in every box in which you'd try to put itin other words, it's totally unique.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2014
Sometimes you just gotta break out of juvie to rescue a friend and save the world. Book 2 of the Twelve-Fingered Boy Trilogy finds the two boy heroes--Jack and Shreve--trapped and confined. Branded a "candy" dealer for doling out drugs, Shreve is incarcerated in a juvenile detention center at first, but after he frightens a nurse there, he's sent to a mental hospital, where he's drugged for schizophrenia. What his keepers don't know is that he's not schizophrenic at all. Instead, he's a shibboleth, a being that can read minds and possess the bodies of others. Readers, on the other hand, know that he needs to escape (there are lots of escapes in this sequel) the center and find his BFF Jack, who's stuck with a guy named Quincrux, who could be the most evil shibboleth out there. Jacobs' sequel reads as a series of elongated plot twists that need to move his lead character from one place to the next, usually some kind of prison: Entrapment is key. Shreve's inner dialogue and snappy one-liners ring both true and trenchant: "In and down I go, into Schneider's brainmeat, into his unconscious, like some psychic cliff diver in a Speedo." There is plenty more like this, and it'll no doubt be the main motivation for readers of this decent sequel. Not necessarily groundbreaking but fun. (Paranormal adventure. 12-16)

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July 1, 2014
Polydactyl hero Shreve, now sixteen, escapes from Tulaville Psychiatric Hospital to seek Hiram Quincrux--the monster behind an insomnia epidemic causing mayhem in the U.S.--and pit his own "extranatural" powers, his shibboleth, against Quincrux's. The sheer weirdness of it all will captivate readers and involve them in a memorable second installment that nicely sets up what's sure to be a dramatic conclusion.

(Copyright 2014 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)