Thursday, July 29, 2010

Dark Song by Gail Giles


Ames lives a more than comfortable life....large house, private school, expensive vacations and clothes. She has her circle of friends, with Em at the center. Ames is known as the "good girl," one who never challenges the rules and does well in school. But Em has given her a taste of what it feels like to bend rules, and Ames likes that feeling.

And then her world crashes. Her way of life is completely shattered, thanks to her father and she learns the hard and fast way of what life will be like. Her circle of friends have abandoned her, her way of life given away at garage sales, and what little they have left is swept away in a tide of embarrassment to Houston, where she now lives in the projects, mucking away discarded drug needles and animal droppings in her new home. She hates her life, her parents...everyone except her little sister. And that's where she meets Marc.

Marc takes him time when it comes to approaching Ames. His attraction to her began the first time he saw her. He knows the dangers and the unfamiliar territory Ames has moved into and he sees something in her that others don't - he tests her dark song, that feeling of living on the edge, the thrill of breaking rules without attracting attention, and finds hers without ever letting her know his own dark song he plays so well...

Ames feels the dark song too and the music is getting louder and stronger the more she follows Marc into his world. And she likes it...but will what she likes destroy her and her family or rescue her from a world she knows nothing about?

Gail Giles is a master of YA fiction on the edge. She's crafted a book where readers are drawn to Ames's privileged life and the deliberately crafted downhill ride she finds herself in. Picture perfect on the outside, the dysfunctional family side is revealed to the reader in perfect literary accompaniment. Fans of her body of work will not be disappointed!

1 comment:

Becky said...

Looks like a great read. It reminds me of a book that I recently had the honor of previewing before its October 15, release date titled, "Mary's Son: A Tale of Christmas" by Darryl Nyznyk. The plot being that of a rich little girl and a poor peasant boy is really heart warming. Love YA books and can't wait to check out "Dark Song."