Lux Proofs by Laird Foster
Title: The Lux Proofs (The Lux Campfire Chronicles #1)
Author: Laird Foster
Publisher: Geyser Books
Release: April 29, 2011
Age Group: MG/YA
Recommend: Jennifer says, “My overall feelings are mixed. I want to recommend this book. Unfortunately, I am not sure it will be to everyone’s liking.”
The Field kids are freaks. Clerk is a sulfur burping thirteen-year-old convinced he comes from a volcano. Twelve-year-old Pazia knows she’s a megafauna Morpher ready to morph. Ten-year-old Lucy changes color while Ed, her dorky twin brother, spits gooey blood after creepy dreams. And sure, they knew Amala (Grandma) was murdered seventeen years ago — but Ed’s latest dream reveals the mysterious murderer is on the loose! When a crate arrives from a parallel universe called Lux, their already weird life goes totally haywire. From Maine to Cousin Chuck’s museum in New York City and bizarre places beyond, the kids encounter wacky strangers and shocking headlines. The unforgettable journey to find Amala’s murderer before the killer strikes again has only just begun. ~ Amazon.com
Review by Jennifer
The plot of the story is that Gabrielle’s mother had been a seeker of knowledge. Ultimately she had been killed in her pursuit of knowledge. Gabrielle has a brother Alphonse who sent out two crates. One crate held miscellaneous items from Lux that was to go to a friend and the other crate held books and journals documenting the information that Amala had collected. The problem starts when the crates are delivered. Gabrielle receives the wrong crate. The fetches are after the books but Gabrielle and her families do not have them. After the family is attacked by the fetches they head out to New York to consult with a cousin who works at a museum. From him they learn some interesting information. The fetches catch up with the family and this is where the family is separated. Once the family is separated each pair meets up with some interesting characters that will either aide them or harm them.
What I liked: This book offers a plethora of colorful characters. The core characters consisted of a family with a mother, father, and 4 children. The children are intelligent and each have a unique talent all their own. The father, Jake, is an intelligent man with a quirky habit. Gabrielle, the mother, is a morpher from Lux. She wears a bear necklace and there is an instance in the story where she does morph into a bear. The antagonists to the family are the fetches. Fetches are disgusting creatures that are menacing in their pursuit of the family. The story offers up a mystery and as the story unfolds the reader gains more information. There is action that keeps the story moving along.
What I didn’t like: I sometimes felt that the author was giving too much detail. There was more telling than actually showing. The prologue felt like a lesson of facts. When I finished the book I wasn’t sure I knew any more than I did when I started the book. The characters are on this journey but I wasn’t sure where the journey was leading to. I felt that the action overpowered some events. I would have liked the characters to discover more information then to be constantly attacked by the fetches.
My overall feelings on this book are mixed. On one hand I really liked the idea of this book: the idea of a parallel dimension where its secrets are affecting those that live in this dimension. I just felt that the telling of the story sometimes got in the way of my imagination. I was thinking of the children’s book Fortunately, Unfortunately when getting ready to write this review. Fortunately, there are good characters. Unfortunately, the canvas feels a little crowded at times. Fortunately, there is action. Unfortunately, sometimes the action interrupts the story. Fortunately, the reader receives a lot of information. Unfortunately, the information is told to the reader at times instead of being shown. Fortunately, I liked many things about this story. Unfortunately, I am not sure if I want to read the next book. Fortunately, I want to recommend this book. Unfortunately, I am not sure it will be to everyone’s liking.
