‘This will keep you reading way past midnight.’

      Jessica Day has moved to a small town called Bixby, Oklahoma, a quiet town where everything seems fine, but Jessica is bound to get more than she bargained for with the mystery of the secret hour.

      The town of Bixby is normal for other people but not for people born at the stroke of midnight.  These people have an extra hour where they have special powers and the rest of Bixby is frozen.  Jessica is a very lucky person thinking she has this mysterious place all to herself but there are other midnighters.  Dess, Rex, Melissa and Jonathan were also born at midnight and also have secret powers. These kids are not a threat, however there are creatures of the dark that lurk in the shadows waiting for their next meal to devour.  The creatures include slithers, flying slithers and the infamous darklings.

The main problem is trying to stop the creatures of the dark, and getting to know Jessica’s power.  Jonathan does not like Rex or Melissa.  This makes it hard for Jonathan to use his power to help fight the evil monsters, when he doesn’t trust the other kids other than Jessica and Dess. 

What I liked about this book is how it didn’t have a slow start to get into the interesting parts, also how it shows you the time of day at the start of the chapter.  Another part that I enjoyed was how it wasn’t too easy to read or too hard to read which made me read on.  The recommendations for readers that would like this book are the thrills, the adventure and the creepiness of the dark.  I would rate this book  8 out of 10, with10 being the highest and 0 being the lowest.  Truly a great read!

Texas C., Year 9       

—————————————————————-

    ‘Meet the Midnighters. By day, they’re outsiders. Teenagers with black coats and bad attitudes. By night, they might just be our last hope…’     

  
Strange things happen in Bixby, Oklahoma, although in this town there is something special. In this town there is always one extra hour at the dead of night. Jessica Day is new in Bixby and discovers that, in this extra hour, she is awake and can travel around. During this time everything is frozen and nobody moves and although this may seem fun, Jessica is not alone. They call themselves ‘midnighters’. Jessica begins to enjoy the extra hour she has received until she discovers that the town belongs to the evil creatures called darklings. Here they lurk in the shadows and threaten the town throughout this extra hour. The midnighters all have special powers that they can only use during the hour. The main midnighters are Rex, Melissa and Dess and they realise that Jessica is new to the extra hour and find out that the darklings are stalking her. Why are the darklings doing this? To find out, you’ll have to read the book!
I fell in love with this book from the start because I was so captured by the descriptive language which gave a clear picture. Scott Westerfeld made it very easy for me to create a visual image and made it feel like I was in the book; also how he described the characters’ powers, all so unique. It kind of felt old fashioned because of how computers were ordinary and phones were not real. This book would be recommended for teens and young adults. I think it would fit readers aged between 14-20. It would engage both male and female readers because it includes fantasy/sci Fi, mystery, thrill and a bit of action.

Reece, Year 9