Synopsis
Nick is an orphan who has grown up in his uncle Jack's care on the wild, wooded coast of New England. His parents died when he was a baby during a terrible influenza epidemic that swept the region not long after World War I. Nick first realizes something is wrong when he notices he no longer has a reflection. Then a neighbor he has known all his life accuses him of ignoring her. Soon Nick is blamed for all kinds of trouble around town. Is some other boy who looks like Nick creating all the problems? Nick suspects that something even stranger is going on. Ultimately he proves that someone else is trying to get him in trouble. Refusing to let this shadow of a boy take over his life, Nick develops a plan with his friend Gypsy to get rid of his mirror image for good.
Award-winning author James Lincoln Collier has written a haunting story of two boys-one alive, one a ghost-who confront each other and their small town in a battle to determine who is the more deserving of the one life they seem to share.
Lyra Heiser-Washington - Alan Review
Imagine waking up one morning feeling not quite like yourself. You take a walk by a pond and when you look in it, you have no reflection. This is the dilemma that faces 13-year-old Nick Hodges. Nick, an orphan being raised by his Uncle Jack, is also being accused of crimes around town that he knows he didn't commit. Confused and upset, Nick can only confide in his friend, Gypsy, an outcast because of her nationality. Determined to find his reflection and the person responsible for ruining his name, Nick learns more about his past and the influenza epidemic that swept his town when he was a baby. With innumerable suspenseful scenes, this book will leave a chill running down anyone's spine. Not only does the book deal with problems teenagers face, such as feeling like you don't fit it, but it also offers a history lesson about a serious time when illness destroyed entire towns. This book has a great story and good ending and will keep you on your toes the whole time. 2004, Bloomsbury Press, 192 pp., Ages young adult.