The Gardener
Grade 7–10—On a visit to the nursing home in which his mother works, Mason discovers that her job does not involve caring for the elderly patients as he imagined, but for several apparently catatonic teenagers. When his mother steps away, one of the teens awakens in response to a DVD that he puts on. She suffers from amnesia but somehow knows she must escape her current environment and begs Mason for his help. He suddenly finds himself on the run from TroDyn Industries, the scientific corporation that owns most of his town. It has been using the girl as part of some sort of research—but what kind? And might there be some link to the father Mason has never met? Much of the suspense the novel tries to build is undermined by heavy foreshadowing and the image and tagline on the book's cover. A plot twist at the end depends on the scheming of a newly introduced character and falls flat. Reluctant readers might overlook these flaws in favor of a quick read with a likable protagonist and a juicy premise, but James Dashner'sMaze Runner(Random, 2009) and William Sleator'sHouse of Stairs(Dutton, 1985) are stronger stories about scientific experiments performed on teens.—Hayden Bass, Seattle Public Library, WACopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.