Spontaneous

June 6, 2016
Seniors at Covington High School are spontaneously combusting in one gloriously gory explosion after another, and it doesn’t take long for the FBI to descend on the New Jersey town to figure out what is going on. Is it terrorism? A curse? At the heart of Starmer’s story is Mara Carlyle, a senior who witnesses the first combustion up close in precalc. Mara’s blunt, sarcastic narration is well-matched to the absurdity of the plot, and while it’s tempting to think of it as a defense mechanism in response to an unbelievable situation, it seems clear that this is just who Mara is. Her lengthy internal monologues, while entertaining, can frustrate the story’s momentum and make Mara seem more like an observer and chronicler of the mayhem, rather than a participant, despite her proximity to several of the explosions. This aside, Starmer (the Riverman trilogy) adeptly uses his bloody, madcap premise to heighten just how much of life is out of our control, and how important it is to seize whatever time we’re given. Ages 14–up. Agent: Michael Bourret, Dystel & Goderich Literary Management.

October 31, 2016
Actress McKenna creates high drama in her reading of Starmer’s YA novel about a string of spontaneous combusting teenagers at a high school in New Jersey. Members of the Covington High School senior class keep exploding, and no one is sure why. Protagonist Mara Carlyle witnesses the first explosion in her precalc class. She and her friends want to figure out what’s going on, but that’s hard to do when FBI agents and other government agents become a part of everyday life and everyone else is deathly afraid of being contaminated. In the audio edition, McKenna’s deep and throaty voice draws in the listener hypnotically, while her emphasis and emotional expression captures the firsthand account of Mara as she witnesses many of her friends burst. Beyond the aural appeal of her voice, McKenna captures the tone, rhythm, and attitude of the different teenagers present throughout the story, giving each character vocal identities that only rarely skirt the edge of caricature. She’s at her best when the story goes deep into Mara’s thoughts to see the genuine (and not always kind) side of this protagonist. Ages 14–up. A Dutton hardcover.