Mergers - Hardcover

Layne, Steven L.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1589801830 ISBN 13: 9781589801837

Publisher: Pelican Publishing, 2006

Synopsis

Dirk and his friends have spent their entire lives in hiding because of their racial identities. Now they must make a dangerous journey into the past with the hope of restoring the world�s natural timeline. Each of them has special powers that they will use to conquer The Merger.

About this title

About the Author

Named to the 2001 All-Teacher Team by USA Today 2001 Recipient of the Milken Family Foundation's National Award for Teaching Excellence  Steven L. Layne serves as director of the master of education in literacy program at Judson University in Elgin, Illinois, where he is also a professor of literacy education. He is a fifteen-year veteran of public education, serving as a classroom teacher and reading specialist for grades two through three and five through eight.    A respected literacy consultant, motivational keynote speaker, and featured author, Layne works with large numbers of educators and children during school visits and at conferences held throughout the world each year. His work has been recognized with awards for outstanding contributions to the fields of educational research, teaching, and writing from organizations such as USA Today, the Milken Family Foundation, the Illinois Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, the National Council of Teachers of English, the Illinois Reading Council, and the International Reading Association.    A prolific and talented writer, his young-adult thriller This Side of Paradise was the 2002 winner of the Hal Clement Award for Young Adults and the 2003-2004 Texas Lone Star Award. He is also the author of the International Reading Association/Children's Choice selections My Brother Dan's Delicious and The Teachers' Night Before Christmas, the latter of which is also a best-seller in Pelican's Night Before Christmas Series. Layne lives with his wife, Debbie, their four children, and an adorable Collie named Shelby in St. Charles, Illinois.   For more information about the author, please visit his website, www.stevelayne.com

From the Back Cover

Dirk steeled himself, for he was certain the Senatormeant to level his most forceful blows right from the start. That way, he could take what he wanted without much resistance. Surprisingly, that was not how it happened. Instead of lashing out at Dirk's mind with great power and speed, the Senator's mental presence crumbled quickly into very smallpieces. Dirk "watched" through his mind's eye as the pieces came to life. They were like fire ants, the Senator told him, that would spread to every nook and cranny of his mind--a deadly chorus led by a sinister conductor. They would sting Dirk in unison and then literally pull his mind apart. His knowledge, his skills, his memories, his ... power would be carted away, like the spoils of war, through a long, dark tunnel that would lead directly into the Senator's mind. It was, in a sense, a massacre of millions with a casualty of one. And it had begun.

"What an intriguing concept! Mergers gives readers a lot to think about concerning race, fate, trust--and friendship."
--Margaret Peterson Haddix, author of Turnabout

"Reads like a comic book with plenty of action."
--School Library Journal

From the Inside Flap

Four exceptional teens from four different races pose a singular threat to the worlds most sinister secret: The Merger.

Nicci, the African Traveler, manipulates the physical limits of time.

Mateo, the Hispanic Metamorph, alters his shape to become what he imagines.

Keiko, the Asian Empath, heals with the mere touch of her hands.

Dirk, the Caucasian Telepath, invades, fortifies, battles, and joins the mind of anyone he chooses.

Born into a world that has eliminated every physical and historical trace of racial identity, Dirk and his friends have spent their entire lives in hiding. Now, they must make a dangerous journey into the past with the hope of restoring the worlds natural timeline and dissolving their engineered society. But someone is waiting for them--hiding in the folds of history. Someone powerful. Someone dangerous. Someone . . . with a lot to lose.

Steven L. Layne serves as associate professor of education and literature at Judson University in Elgin, Illinois. He is a respected literacy consultant, motivational keynote speaker, and featured author throughout the world. Dr. Layne has received numerous awards for his work in the fields of research, teaching, and writing for both children and young adults.

His other books with Pelican Publishing Company include:

This Side of Paradise
The Teachers' Night Before Christmas
The Principal's Night Before Christmas
Preacher's Night Before Christmas
Verses for Dad's Heart
Verses for Mom's Heart
Over Land and Sea
My Brother Dan's Delicious
Thomas's Sheep and the Great Geography Test
Thomas's Sheep and the Spectacular Science Project
Love the Baby

Reviews

Grade 7-10–Four friends were raised together. Each one is of a different race and has a different superpower. One is psychic, another empathic, another can morph into other forms, and the final one can travel through and control time. They live in a society in which their very faces will get them killed, a merged world where race has been eliminated and all people are the same combination of races. When the teens are caught and their caregiver is murdered by crazed Senator Broogue, they are rescued from a similar fate by four adults who are also of different races and have similar powers. The adults train the young people to strengthen their powers in order to travel back in time and reverse the merged races. This book reads like a comic book with plenty of action. The pace is generally fast, though the story does bog down occasionally in the middle. The matching powers of the teens and their adult counterparts are never explained, leaving lots of loose ends. There is also unevenness in the story line; upcoming obstacles seem to be insurmountable, but then when they are finally overcome, they are made to seem insignificant. A quick read, this is not an essential purchase but it should be well received if you can get it into the hands of graphic-novel fans.–Tasha Saecker, Caestecker Public Library, Green Lake, WI
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Edition details

• Publisher: Pelican Publishing
• Publication date: 2006
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1589801830
• ISBN 13: 9781589801837
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 208