The New Kid

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Summary: Everyone knows about bullies...
Review: "The New Kid" by author Lowell Bergeron is a young adult novel that adults will enjoy, as well. There is much the reader can relate to and the writing style is readable and engaging. How do we react to people who bully us? Read this simple yet complex story about just that; dealing with people who instill fear into us. The consequences across the board in how we handle bullies can be devastating. Without giving the storyline away, I recommend you read "The New Kid" and be enlightened and entertained.

Rating:
Summary: Haunting tale...effective storytelling
Review: Lowell Bergeron's little gem, "The New Kid", is a delightful novel that unfolds a spiraling, dark tale of murder, betrayal and lost innocence...but tells this tale in such a way as to leave the reader unaware that that is what is happening. A diabolical, yet ingenious method of story-telling, I must say, but one that is conducive toward having that tale be indelibly ingrained in one's mind.

A nice twist at the end is often what also makes a story memorable for me and Bergeron offers up a good one in his debut novel. At first glance, the title "The New Kid" might conjure up certain ideas of what the book is about, perhaps making one think of a new kid they remember from school. After the last page is read, however, and the reader is left to ponder the mysterious and frightening events that befall the characters in this novel, the reader will undoubtedly never think of a "new kid" in the same manner. And I'm sure Lowell Bergeron meant it to be that way.