Changers Book Two: Oryon - Softcover

Cooper, T; Glock-Cooper, Allison

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1617753076 ISBN 13: 9781617753077

Publisher: Black Sheep, 2015

Synopsis

In Book Two of the Changers Series, our protagonist undergoes a second transformation―returning to a male body.

“This is an excellent sequel . . . . This installment raises the stakes, making the story not just about physical and emotional transformation, but about survival.” ―School Library Journal

“Oryon’s winning and witty narrative voice is consistently engaging . . . Oryon is African-American, and much of what he observes is about race . . . raises thought-provoking questions.” ―Kirkus Reviews

Part of Akashic’s Black Sheep YA imprint.

Changers Book Two: Oryon in the four-part Changers Series for young adults finds our hero Ethan/Drew on the eve of her second metamorphosis―into Oryon, a skinny African American skater boy with more swagger than he knows what to do with. Enter a mess of trouble from the Changers Council, the closed-minded Abiders, the Radical Changers (RaChas), and his best friend Audrey―at least she was his best friend when Oryon was Drew―and now, it’s complicated.

But that’s life (and life, and life, and life) for Changers, an ancient race of humans who must live out each year of high school as a completely different person. Before next summer, Oryon will learn what it means to be truly loved, scared spitless, and at the center of a burgeoning national culture war. Most of all, he will learn again how much the eyes of the world try to shape you into what they see―and how only when you resist do you clearly begin to see yourself.

About this title

About the Authors

T Cooper is an author, television writer, journalist, and filmmaker whose groundbreaking work has been pushing boundaries both in print and on screen for twenty years. He currently serves as executive producer and writer on The Blacklist, and is the author of nine books, including two best-selling novels. Cooper’s feature documentary Man Made has screened at more than eighty film festivals worldwide, winning fourteen Best Documentary jury and audience awards―in addition to a Sundance Institute Grant (the film is currently available for streaming on Amazon Prime). Cooper is a professor of English and creative writing at Emory University, and one half of Holler Beach Productions.

ALLISON GLOCK-COOPER is the author of the New York Times notable book Beauty Before Comfort, which Kirkus called, "A memoir as elemental as its subject: pulsing, fetching, leaving a strong afterglow," and for which she received a Whiting Award. Glock has been a journalist for twenty-two years, and her work has been published in the New York Times, GQ, Rolling Stone, Esquire, the New York Times Magazine, the New Yorker, O, The Oprah Magazine, Elle, Marie Claire, Garden & Gun, and many others. The Changers YA Series is her first collaboration in print with T Cooper.

Reviews

Gr 7 Up—In Drew (Akashic, 2014), Ethan woke up on his first day of high school to discover that overnight he had transformed into a beautiful girl named Drew. Now it's his sophomore year, and he wakes up as a Black teen named Oryon, which is going to raise a whole new set of problems. But being a Changer means that the high school years are going to be even more of an adjustment than it would be for normal ("static") students. Oryon learns the hard way that all the benefits of being a pretty white girl evaporate overnight. Most people liked and trusted Drew without question, but now Oryon becomes very aware of how many people are making assumptions about him because of the color of his skin. Complicating matters even further is Audrey, the girl that Drew fell in love with last year for whom Oryon also has strong feelings. This is an excellent sequel, because it takes the original premise and expands upon it, sinking readers further into the protagonist's head while making them more aware of the forces that are fighting for and against the Changers race. This installment raises the stakes, making the story not just about physical and emotional transformation, but about survival. VERDICT Fans of the first book will want to follow up with this volume, which will leave them even more eager to read the next series entry.—Andrea Lipinski, New York Public Library

Edition details

• Publisher: Black Sheep
• Publication date: 2015
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1617753076
• ISBN 13: 9781617753077
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 288