Review: From Orphan to Traveler
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 08 11, 2013
In Parallel, 17-year-old Etta Flemming is an orphan residing at the Dominion House for Girls in Alexandria, Virginia. As far as Etta knows, her parents were killed in a plane crash when she was five-years-old. Her only friend is a fellow orphan named Jamie, and both girls feel like outcasts at their high school. Much to Jamie's chagrin, Etta meets a slightly older man named Cooper Everett. Soon after they meet, Cooper convinces Etta that she's living in the wrong reality. Etta has always felt different from others due to her power of  telekinesis and the constant surreal dreams she has; so an alternate reality doesn't sound as strange to her as it would to most.  The fact that Cooper's hot doesn't hurt, either. Cooper and Etta travel to the reality where she belongs which includes a high school where she fits in a bit more, her best friend Jamie, her Aunt Maggie...and her father. Little by little Etta finds out that her father, a prestigious physicist (along with Mr. Thornberry, Jamie's father) used children as test subjects and intentionally sent Etta to an alternate reality in hopes of keeping her safe. Etta also discovers that she has a significant role as Council leader in the future and Cooper is already married. Parallel ends on a cliff hanger, which drove me to read the sequel that much quicker. As a main character, Etta is easy to relate to, down to Earth, and a fighter who has prevailed despite the bleakest of circumstances. Compelling and well written!