Conductoid

Being a twin is hard. Being the twin brother to an overachieving sister can be even worse. Jack and Phoebe are twins who don’t exactly get along and are nothing alike. Phoebe excels at school, karate, and pretty much everything she does. Jack is an unmotivated, lazy, daydreaming, and sometimes disrespectful boy. It is a visit by a mysterious cloaked figure that sets events in motion that will change Jack’s life forever. In the novel Conductoid, the figure, a Master Veriator called Azan, tells Jack that he is a Conductoid with special powers that allow him to be transformed into animals and cross dimensions to save those in need. Jack is at first resistant and reluctant to learn from Azan, but the more lives he saves, his demeanor changes in school, at home, and as a Conductoid. When he is suddenly called upon to help Azan and rise to the challenge, he will call on all that he has, as well as people he didn’t know he needed, to try to do what needs to be done. Time, patience, and temperament all have to be on his side. Will he prevail or succumb to darker forces?

Author, M. B. Lehane, has written a fast-paced, thrilling young adult novel that will appeal to both boys and girls alike. Lehane does a fantastic job developing the characters in the story so that they are both easy to relate to as well as almost coming to life as you read. The sibling rivalry between Jack and Phoebe, the struggles Jack has talking to and tolerating his mother, Jack’s interaction with his best friend, Ty, and school bullies like Damon and Hartley, are well thought out and easy to picture or relate to because they are just like people in the world today. The addition of the corner store owners, the Dibbles, adds a touch of comic relief that is delightful. A great novel and a must read!