Switchers - Kate Thompson Book Review

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Review Summary

Tess is a “switcher”, a person who is able to physically change herself into any kind of animal while retaining most of her human mentality. While in animal form, she does find herself conforming to some animal habits; for example, when a squirrel, she discovers an obsession with storing nuts for the winter, despite knowing she won't be in squirrel form to collect in the frosty months.

Tess's ability is inborn. There are no magic spells, no curses involved. She has simply discovered the talent at an early age and continued to use it - in private - ever since. The story opens as she encounters, for the first time, another switcher. To her dismay, she learns that the ability to switch will end on her fifteenth birthday.

Kevin is a strange boy, who admits to being estranged from his family and to spending most of his life as a rat. He faces his imminent birthday with dismay, for he will be forced to choose a form - human or animal - and stick to it forever. The two switchers get involved in a quest of world-shaking consequences as a new ice age is about to descend on Earth. Kevin's deadline adds to the suspense as it seems he might be trapped forever in animal shape at the icy Pole.

Sally Odgers, Resident Scholar

Detailed literary breakdown of Switchers

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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot

Composition of Book
Descript. of chases or violence - 10%
planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 40%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 40%
Descript. of society, phenomena (tech), places - 10%

Tone of book - suspenseful (sophisticated fear)
FANTASY or SCIENCE FICTION? - fantasy world/fantasy past
Mental/magical powers focus Yes
magical powers: - animal related power (fantasy)
Is this an adult or child's book? - Kid's book (ages 7-14)

Main Character
Identity: - Female
Profession/status: - student
Age: - a kid
Has magical/special powers? Yes
Magical/mental powers of main character: - can change shapes
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events? Yes
How sensitive is this character? - middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Average intelligence
Physique - average physique

Main Adversary
Identity: - magical being
Age: - long-lived adults
Has magical powers? Yes
Magical/mental powers of main antagonist: - fire/thunder/weather cntrl
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - almost none
How sensitive is this character? - hard edged
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Average intelligence

Setting
Earth setting: - 20th century
Takes place on Earth? Yes

Style
Person? - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment
How much dialogue? - roughly even amounts of descript and dialog

Most similar books to Switchers
Goose Chase by Patrice Kindl
The Face in the Frost by John Bellairs
The Talking Parcel by Gerald Durrell
The Warlock Crystal by Rick E. Patton
Prophecy of the Stones by Flavia Bujor

Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s).

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