Review: "Happy Days" of the Future!
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 08 9, 2013
And if you're a YA, you probably won't have any idea what old TV show I'm talking about.I can not believe that I enjoyed these three books as much as I did.  The first book was a good length, the second one was somewhat shorter, and the third one was basically a short story that gave some background on a few characters.  Still, it wasn't a short read to complete this group.  And yet surprisingly, I no sooner finish than I'm eager to start the next book.This is a story about a 14 year old boy, his best friends, his new heartthrob, his parents, his school, and his newfound paranormal talent.  And for some strange reason, for me, it played out like the old TV show Happy Days.  Maybe it was the teenage angst, the stay-at-home Mom who baked a lot of cookies, the boyhood companions, the old fashioned chivalry, or the respect for parental guidance.  This, however, did not take place in the 1950's.  This takes place in the future.  A future with pulse phones instead of texting.  A future where children are injected with a substance that gives them, at puberty, a paranormal ability.  Some can astral travel, some control fire, some are empathic or clairvoyant...and some, like the main character Caleb, can 'raise' dead folks.  So of course the government wants to control those who develop the stronger abilities.There were some punctuation and word tense errors here and there, but nothing that slowed up the reading too much.  Overall, it was written well.  The characters were nicely developed, although for some strange reason, I had difficulty 'picturing' some of the kids' physical appearances in my mind's eye.  Might have been reading too fast to catch some of their descriptions.I really liked the plot and the action.  Sometimes I could have wished for a little less hormonal puppy love and bully fighting, but I'm sure if I was a teen I'd be loving it.  Although I don't read a lot of books about Zombies, I did find this aspect of the story intriquing.  Strangely, it doesn't seem to be pegged as a YA on Amazon.  I'm not sure that I would have downloaded it if I had paid closer attention (because these are YOUNG kids), but after reading it, I'm certainly glad that I did.I was totally entertained, the stories kept me interested.  They've also convinced me to continue the series to see how things progress for the boys and girls as they continue high school and further develop their paranormal abilities.