Bound To Stay Bound

Booklist - 08/01/2019 Thirteen-year-old Samantha (Sam) faces bullies on both corporeal and noncorporeal planes after a quack scientist turns her (and other classmates) from a lifelong sleepwalker into a SleepWaker, able to separate her consciousness from her chronically exhausted physical body and leave the latter behind to rest. The separation brings out hidden or frustrated character traits in Wakers: those fearful by day become wildly reckless Extremes, while repressed performers band together as Broadways who belt out show tunes. More cogently, Sam’s dazzling, charismatic, seemingly angelic schoolmate Madalynn is, by night, a terrifying bully who can not only somehow bespell Wakers but actually possess their unconscious physical bodies to further her cruel schemes. Simpson needs to work a little more on her premise (or at least her language) as she classifies all of the Wakers into simplistic tribes, but her quick-paced tale is lightened by snarky dialogue, driven by young people surrounded by caricatured adults, and features a fiendishly clever, truly scary mean girl. In the end, clues open the door to sequels. Nighty night! - Copyright 2019 Booklist.