Burning Midnight by Will McIntosh - OPTIONAL

McIntosh, Will Burning Midnight, 309 pgs. Delacorte Press (Random), 2016.

Language: PG-13 (42 swears, 0 f's, 17 deity) Mature Content: PG-13 (some sex talk, teen drinking) Violence: PG-13  

When Sully was 13, he found a rare red cherry sphere and sold it to Alex Holliday who had the matching sphere, for $2.5 million.  On his way out the door, Alex cheats him out of his money claiming the sphere didn't give him enhanced abilities, after all.  Five years later Sully and his mom are just making ends meet.  Sully spends his Saturdays at the flea market trading, buying and selling spheres.  No one actually knows how the spheres got here.  Some say they prove the existence of God, others think they are from aliens or another dimension and some even think they are evil but everyone knows what they do.  If you have a matching pair and you burn them, they will give you enhanced abilities.  When Hunter walks into the flea market wanting to sell a semi-rare hot pink sphere, Sully strikes up a tentative friendship with her.  She tells him that she thinks she knows where to find more spheres so he offers to help.  They make a plan and head out.  Much to their surprise they end up finding a gold sphere which neither of them has ever heard of before.  Also, it's acting a bit odd.  Neither Sully nor Hunter has ever seen a sphere act alive.  The sphere is trying to locate its match so Hunter and Sully follow to find the other gold sphere and the possibilities it might bring them.  

I started out really enjoying this book – I’m a fan of sci-fi and I thought the spheres were interesting and I could see the masses clamoring to get more and more.  There’s action and a little romance, and I really liked Sully's character and how he responded to the conflicts he encountered.  While it wraps up nicely, the ending came rather quickly and isn't as strong as I had hoped. The language and some of the content keep this at a high school level.  

HS – OPTIONAL Reviewer:  RebelB