Fissure Rock is the latest creation from Canadian Author, John Blair. It is a Young Adult novel dealing with a period of change in the life of Jim Bridgeman. Jim is sixteen years old and finds his whole world suddenly turned inside out.
Uprooted from the city and moving to the small country town of Fissure Rock, Jim and his family wonder how they will cope in their new environment. His dad has a new job with Sacalla Real Estate and his mom obtained one at the local library.
Jim?
s life changes forever on the first day at his new school. He meets Cynthia Sacalla, the Student Council President, in Mr King?s English class.
She makes an immediate impression upon him, and he cannot get her out of his mind.
The boy next to him in English class, Andy, warns him to have nothing to do with Cynthia or her family. Jim chooses to ignore Andy?
s warning and he and Cynthia become very close. She introduces him to her young brother Danny, who is fanatical about pro-style wrestling.
Soon Jim becomes embroiled in Cynthia?
s circle of friends and Danny?s wrestling activities. Strangely, Cynthia and Danny seem to like videoing the make believe matches.
It puzzles Jim why they would want to do this, but he is keen not to lose favor with Cynthia so he goes along with it.
One day Lisa, Jim?s younger sister, urgently calls him into her room.
She shows him a web site she found on the Internet. The site is called Backyard Boys, featuring all do-it-yourself teenage wrestling federations. Jim is listed in one part of the site under the name of Jimmy Jobber.
The site and his listing are completely unknown to him before. He is also deeply concerned that there is a message on the site?s message board addressed to him from a Mr Kween.
The man states that he finds Jim very attractive.
When he raises the topics of the web site and the videos with Cynthia, she is quite calm about the matter. She tells him that she sells the videos to make money for worthwhile causes.
As for Jim?s concerns about Mr Kween, she agrees to take all reference of Jim off the web site.
This takes some of the worry off Jim?
s shoulders about what is happening since he moved to Fissure Rock. But he is not entirely sure just what Cynthia?s motives are towards him.
Also there is still the matter of his dad?s strange new ?working late?
activities and Andy?s weird attitude towards him also plays on his mind.
After a particular bizarre wrestling match, in which he is severely beaten, Jim decides to leave home and head back to the city.
He is confused with what is happening around him to himself and his family. Escape from the immediate situation seems to Jim, the only solution.
The trip to the city and its consequences bring all of what has happened to him at Fissure Rock into perspective.
All is not what it seems to be on the surface. Once it is out in the open, Jim is able to collect himself and see the real Jim Bridgeman.
John Blair has penned a novel that will appeal to the audience it is aimed at.
The book is powerfully written in terms that young adults will easily recognize. This is one book that deserves pride of place in school and home libraries.
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