The Secret Hour
Midnighters Vol. 1
By Scott Westerfeld

    If the creators of Wonderfalls (that adorably quirky dramedy that got shoved to TV’s scrap heap by the usual mindless sitcom fare, despite its resemblance to the awesome Joan of Arcadia) ever decide to try again, they could do worse than adapt Scott Westerfeld’s new X-Files-style saga for the teen set. Why is it that whenever an adult tries a series for kids, (ie. J.K. Rowling) it ends up appealing to adults as well?

    There’s something special about enchanted objects, especially steel that you enchant with a thirteen-letter word. In the town of Bixby, Oklahoma, the number thirteen is good luck. Particularly if you’re a Midnighter like Rex, Desdemona, Melissa, and Jonathan. Who are Midnighters? Did you know that there’s an extra hour in each day that only those born at the stroke of midnight can experience, and everyone else is frozen? Also, that there are ancient creatures called slithers who created the midnight time in order to hide from man’s rapid encroachment? Hard to get used to being prey when you’re accustomed to the all-you-can-eat buffet at Las Vegas.

   Jessica Day is about to become the slithers’ worst nightmare. She wades into “the blue time,” as she calls it, sidesteps feuds between would-be king Midnighter Rex and free spirit Jonathan, wins the trust of suspicious Melissa, and astonishes Midnighters and slithers alike when everything gets turned upside down.

   This initial offering in a firecracker of a trilogy entertains, engrosses and immerses the fantasy lover in the mystery and the rules of this believable alternate world. The cliffhanger conclusion leaves the reader suspended in agony like non-Midnighters at midnight, or like Wonderfalls fans.