A Serpent's Tooth

School Library Journal

Gr 6-9-- Lucy Topham, 14, is a visionary. Her ability ``to see'' complicates her life, especially when her mother decides to organize a protest group against a proposed nuclear waste disposal site at Pit Field, near their small English village. Lucy's father so disapproves of his wife's actions that Mrs. Topham moves into the women's protest camp at the edge of the field. Lucy experiences a recurring and disturbing vision on the camp road of two men pushing a heavily laden handcart. Although not initially committed to her mother's cause, Lucy also moves into the protest camp after a quarrel with her father. There she experiences cold, fatigue, and even assault at the hands of persons unknown. A worker at the site falls seriously ill, and it is revealed that Pit Field was the burial ground for victims of the Black Death. The ensuing panic and publicity forces the withdrawal of the crews from the disposal site. The combination of themes--nuclear waste disposal and the Black Death--should be more powerful than it is; instead, the themes are treated superficially. An abundance of thoroughly disagreeable characters clouds the believability of the story. There is, nevertheless, sufficient action to carry the story, and readers will relate to a somewhat romantic sub-plot. --Sylvia V. Meisner, Allen Middle School, Greensboro, N.C.