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Summary
Summary
While Mary lies in a glass coffin aboard a ghost train heading west, her minions are awaiting her re-awakening by bringing lots of new souls into Everlost to serve her. Meanwhile Jackin' Jill has met Jix, a fur-jacker--a skin jacker who can take over the bodies of animals, most notably jaguars. Jix serves a Mayan god who collects Everlost coins, and has his own agenda. In the concluding volume of The Skinjacker Trilogy, Neal Shusterman reveals new sides of the characters of Everlost, who are pitted against each other in a battle that may destroy all life on Earth.
Author Notes
Neal Shusterman was born in Brooklyn, New York on November 12, 1962. He received degrees in psychology and drama from the University of California, Irvine. Within a year of graduating, he had his first book deal and a screenwriting job. He has written numerous books including The Dark Side of Nowhere, Red Rider's Hood, The Shadow Club, The Shadow Club Rising, The Eyes of Kid Midas, Shattered Sky, Unwind, and Antsy Does Time. He won the National Book Award for Young People's Literature in 2015 for Challenger Deep. He also writes several series including the Skinjacker Trilogy, the Star Shards Chronicles, and the Unwind Dystology. As a screen and television writer, he has written for the Goosebumps and Animorphs television series, and wrote the Disney Channel Original Movie Pixel Perfect.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (5)
Spanish Language Review
«Un final cautivador». Kirkus «Fantástico». VOYA «Épico». School Library Journal
Horn Book Review
As Shusterman established in book one, Everlost is a "world between life and death" inhabited by children and teens. They exist side-by-side with the everyday world, and in Shusterman's hands the ways in which the two worlds intersect are fascinating. The kids have been left to sort out their own society, and as book three opens, many of them are aboard a train with a very special car containing a glass coffin holding the sleeping body of the evil Mary Hightower, leader of Everlost. Tied to the front of the train as punishment by Mary's henchmen is Allie the Outcast, Mary's nemesis. Allie's friend Nick, meanwhile, has reverted almost completely to a sort of golem made of chocolate; he's lost all memory of who he is or what he believed in. An important new character is Jix, a skinjacker who chooses to take over the bodies of big cats instead of humans, to the point of becoming catlike himself. This isn't a book to read on its own, but Shusterman's richly complex world-building will intrigue initiates enough to go back and start with what they've missed. Each of the main characters ends up exactly as he or she should, making Everfound a satisfying conclusion to the series. susan dove lempke (c) Copyright 2011. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
Shusterman wraps up his Skinjacker trilogy with a satisfying, if long, concluding volume. New characters add to the drama: there's the furjacking spy Jix, who skinjacks into large cats instead of humans, and Clarence, a scar wraith who is trapped between the real world and Everlost. The action resumes right where it left off in volume two, but the stakes are raised, as both worlds are threatened. The Alamo and other famous sites continue to play a part, but it's the characters and action that will have fans of the series eager to find out how it all ends.--Dobrez, Cind. Copyright 2010 Booklist
School Library Journal Review
Gr 8 Up-Following the cataclysmic confrontation between Nick, the Chocolate Ogre, and Mary Hightower at Graceland's vortex in Everwild (2009), the lives of many Afterlights (those who have died and are living in an alternate afterlife) in Everlost are drastically changed. Since Nick melted, his Afterlights were captured by Mary's loyal skinjackers and forced into captivity. As they race to catch the skinjackers' train and free Allie the Outcast, Mikey McGill and the partially restored Nick have no idea that Mary will eventually reawaken. Jinx, a new skinjacker, joins the train, intending to assist his Mayan King in bringing down the Eastern Witch. Meanwhile, Mikey meets a scar wraith, a man who was burned badly enough that he is part of both the living world and Everlost and holds the power to extinguish Everlost souls permanently. While the struggles for power in Everlost multiply, Allie works to eliminate those skinjackers who could help Mary fulfill her twisted dream of destroying the living world before it is too late for everyone. Nick Podehl provides phenomenal narration for Neal Shusterman's imaginative and satisfying conclusion (2011, both S & S) to the "Skinjacker Trilogy". He perfectly transitions from one character to the next, bringing each one to life and easily evoking all their emotions. This exceptionally well-done production would be a wonderful addition to middle/high school and public library collections.-Jessica Miller, New Britain Public Library, CT (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Shusterman ends his provocative trilogy with a rock-solid adventure that manages to examine deep questions of faith and morality.At the end ofEverwild(2009), Nick the Chocolate Ogre had dissolved into a mass of chocolate pudding, Mary Hightower was asleep in a glass coffin waiting to be reborn, Allie the Outcast was strapped to the front of arunaway train and Mikey McGill (formerly the monstrous McGill) was searching for a way to rescue her. The adventures continue, with Mexican Afterlight Jix joining the cast of characters as a furjacker, slipping into the bodies of giant cats as he spies on Mary's army for the Mayan King. The rules of Everlost are unique, catering to the children who go there upon death and wait until they are ready to go into the light. But even those rules can be overset with the introduction of Clarence, the scar wraith, whose touch can extinguish anyone out of existenceforever.Alliances form and melt as characters decide between their own self-interest and what is right; the shifting third-person perspective gives readers glimpses into everybody's souls.Rich in detail, with exceptional characterization and shot through with unexpected (and very necessary) humor, this is an engrossing and thoroughly satisfying ending to a unique saga of life after death.(Science fiction. 12 up)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Excerpts
Excerpts
CHAPTER 1 Jix T he boy jacked a jaguar, slipping into its sleek body and sending its simple feline mind to sleep. He owned the beast now. Its flesh was his. Muscular magic in a compact four-legged frame, perfectly designed for running, stalking, and killing. He had taken on the name "Jix"--one of the many Mayan words for "jaguar"--due to his inclination toward great cats, and he furjacked one every chance he got. He preferred wild jaguars, living in the jungles of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula--creatures that hadn't lost their will to hunt. Reconnaissance was Jix's specialty: tracking and spying on Afterlights who His Excellency the King believed to be a threat. Afterlights such as the Eastern Witch--the one they called Mary Hightower. His Excellency had created a barrier of wind upon the Mississippi River to keep her and other intruders out, but the Eastern Witch was shrewd and relentless. With the help of her own skinjackers, she had destroyed a living-world bridge, causing it to cross into Everlost. Then with a train full of followers and slaves, she rode a powerful locomotive across the river. At least that was the story. Others said that she never made the journey herself--that something strange and mysterious happened to her, but no one could agree as to what it was. She flew off into the sky. She melted. She turned to stone. She turned to flesh. Each rumor was more outlandish than the last, and no one knew for sure if any of them were true. Jix was called in for closer surveillance. Discover their numbers, discover their intent, then report back to the king. If these trespassing Afterlights were truly a threat, they would be dealt with quickly, and would never see the light of day again. It all depended on Jix's report. "You should skinjack the pilot of a flying machine," His Excellency had suggested to Jix, "for speed in this matter would greatly please us." Jix, however, had resisted. "But sir, my skill to stalk comes from the jaguar gods. If I make my journey impure, they will be angered, and take the skill away." His Excellency had then waved his hand dismissively. "Do as you will--as long as you bring us the results We require." The king always said "us" and "we," even when there was no one else but him in the room. So, on a bright autumn day, Jix set out in the borrowed body of a jaguar, and within that speedy beast, he forged over mountains and rivers, resting when he had to, but never for long. When he came near human villages he heard many languages. Remnants of ancient tongues, Spanish, and finally English. Once he heard English, and saw signs written in that language, he knew he was getting close, yet never once was he spotted, for he had the best of both species now: the keen senses of the jaguar, and the full faculties of a human mind. The ghost train had crossed the bridge in Memphis, so this was his destination. He was certain to pick up a scent of the supernatural there, and track them down. As he drew nearer, he could feel the thrill of the hunt filling him. The intruders wouldn't stand a chance. © 1994 Neal Shusterman Excerpted from Everfound by Neal Shusterman All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
