Nil by Lynne Matson - OPTIONAL

Matson, Lynne Nil, 374 p. Henry Holt (Macmillan), 2014.   $18.  

Language: R (10+ ‘f’); Mature Content: G; Violence: PG.

Charley only wanted to return some bad fashion choices to the mall.  Suddenly she finds herself transported to deserted beach – not only naked, but also something seems to be trying to kill her.  She survives for several days on her own, until she finds the other inhabitants of the island – other teens who have also been yanked out of their lives and summarily left to survive or die.  Then Charley finds out the worst thing of all – if you don’t catch a gate out by the time you have been there a year, you die.  And gates only appear at noon, in random places around the island.  Charley’s only hope is to band together with the other teens (and the very hot, compelling Thad) and try to catch their gates. 

I totally bought into the fantasy of life on Nil’s island.  I let any thoughts of unrealistic expectations and all just fall by the wayside because I was so wrapped up in Charley and Thad and the other stranded teens.  The only thing I didn’t like was when a British teen was dropped in and his only purpose seemed to be to ramped up the “f” count.  Totally unnecessary!  I felt robbed of a great book.  Otherwise, I was totally immersed and was biting my nails until the very end.  

HS – OPTIONAL.  Cindy, Library Teacher.