Touching Darkness (Midnighters Series #2)

Publishers Weekly

A follow-up to The Secret Hour, the launch of Scott Westerfeld's Midnighters series (which PW called "an inventive contemporary fantasy"), Touching Darkness continues the tale of Dess, Rex, Melissa and Jessica, who were born at nearly the exact stroke of midnight, giving them the ability to experience the 25th hour of each day, which is "rolled up too tight" for the rest of humanity even to notice. (Mar.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

VOYA

In this excellent sequel to Midnighters: The Secret Hour (HarperCollins, 2004/VOYA April 2004), five teens with strange powers who experience an extra hour at midnight discover the history of their secret time while saving one of their own from mutation by the evil creatures they call the "darklings." Dess, Rex, Jess, Melissa, and Jonathan meet in the "blue hour," an extra hour at midnight when the rest of the world is frozen and only Midnighters and darklings can move. Each teen has a special power-from mind reading to mathematical genius to fire bringing-and they all find their power and the extra hour only in their small town of Bixby, Oklahoma. As Rex researches the history of Bixby, he discovers that Midnighters such as themselves have lived in the town for generations and that the town was secretly constructed with symbols and architecture to ward off attacks by darklings. Using metals, ancient runes, and tridecalogisms (words with thirteen letters), the five discover that they are not the only Midnighters left, and that the darklings are using humans as daytime servants. When Rex is taken by the darklings, the four must overcome their differences and do a midnight battle on the salt flats to save Rex. The point of view hops from teen to teen, enhancing the development of each character and acting to advance the plot. With this volume, teen readers will become vested in the series as the teens struggle with the challenges of merging their daytime and midnight selves in a realistic small-town setting that pushes them all to conform. This second installment in what promises to be a solid series reads well on its own, and teens who like fantasy, magic, horror, adventure, or anycombination will be drawn to realistic characters in a complex and changing world in which only they know what is really happening. VOYA CODES: 4Q 4P M J S (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses; Broad general YA appeal; Middle School, defined as grades 6 to 8; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12). 2004, Eos/HarperCollins, 336p., and PLB Ages 11 to 18.
—Hillary Theyer

School Library Journal

Gr 6-10-Life is getting more complex and more dangerous for the five high school students who are "midnighters"-born at the stroke of midnight with the ability to inhabit a secret 25th hour. Unfortunately, some very scary creatures also inhabit it, and they're out to get the magical teens. Jessica, who has just discovered her special powers as a flame-bringer, learns that humans are stalking her during the 24 hours of the day when she thought she was safe. What is the relationship between these stalkers and the darklings that try to destroy the midnighters? Is Jessica's only "normal" friend involved? And who, or what, is causing dreams of mathematical coordinates in Dess, the polymath? Is there a connection to the new runway being built in the desert by the company that Jessica's mom works for? These and other questions are deftly answered in this latest installment in the series as the five teens must grow into their special powers to combat the growing darkling strength. Far scarier and much more convincing than The Secret Hour (HarperCollins, 2004), Touching Darkness combines science, horror, and history in a well-crafted tale. It will be appreciated more by those who have read the first book, but it does stand on its own. Guaranteed to fly off the shelves.-Sharon Grover, Arlington County Department of Libraries, VA Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

This suspenseful sequel to Midnighters #1: The Secret Hour (2004) reveals some secrets of the magical town of Bixby, Oklahoma. Bixby has quieted down since Jessica and her friends defeated a mass of darklings. The monsters that terrorize the midnighters (those, like Jessica, who walk in the magical secret hour after midnight) are avoiding the town. But now the midnighters are in danger from a new kind of monster: humans. Some normal people have discovered the midnighters' secret, and they're stalking Jessica. Worse, they seem to be in league with darklings, and with a new, extra-dangerous darkling-human hybrid. While the other midnighters pair off, Dess, the polymath, uncovers more of the enigma of Bixby with the help of a stranger who's been hiding for decades. Despite a too-sudden conclusion, this powerful page-turner is compelling as it pits heroes against unspeakable evil both human and supernatural. (Fantasy. 12-16)