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Sixteen-year-old Scotch struggles to fit in - at home she's the perfect daughter, at school she's provocatively sassy, and thanks to her mixed heritage, she doesn't feel she belongs with the Caribbeans, whites, or blacks. And even more troubling, lately her skin is becoming covered in a sticky black substance that can't be removed.
While trying to cope with this creepiness, she goes out with her brother - and he disappears. A mysterious bubble of light just swallows him up, and Scotch has no idea how to find him. Soon, the Chaos that has claimed her brother affects the city at large, until it seems like everyone is turning into crazy creatures. Scotch needs to get to the bottom of this supernatural situation ASAP before the Chaos consumes everything she's ever known - and she knows that the black shadowy entity that's begun trailing her every move is probably not going to help.
A blend of fantasy and Caribbean folklore, at its heart this tale is about identity and self acceptance - because only by acknowledging her imperfections can Scotch hope to save her brother.
Ages 14+
"Starred Review. Hopkinson's use of language and imagery is almost magical, and her characters add much-appreciated diversity to the genre. Ages 14 up." - Publishers Weekly
"Starred Review. Rich in voice, humor and dazzling imagery, studded with edgy ideas and wildly original, this multicultural mashup - like its heroine - defies category." - Kirkus Reviews
This information about The Chaos was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Nalo Hopkinson: "I'm a novelist, editor, short story writer. I also teach, and I freelance sometimes as an arts consultant. Most of my books have been published by Warner Books, now known as Grand Central Books. If you like knowing about awards and such, my work has received the Warner Aspect First Novel award, the Sunburst Award for Canadian literature of the fantastic, the World Fantasy Award, the Gaylactic Spectrum Award, and Honourable Mention in Cuba's Casa de las Americas Prize for literature." You can visit her online at www.nalohopkinson.com.
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