The Pack

by Elisa Carbone

Overview

Becky is convinced that Akhil Vyas is the weirdest person on earth when he shows up in her English class. He refuses to sit in chairs, stares at her with spooky eyes, and has scar-covered skin. But soon Becky’s revulsion turns to fascination. The National Institutes of Health is studying Akhil, but he won’t say why—until something happens that makes him swear Becky and her friend Omar to secrecy. Suddenly Becky isn’t sure what’s more shocking—Akhil’s secret, or the chilling reason why he must reveal it. Elisa Carbone weaves a tale of intrigue that will enthrall any reader.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781440695896
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	03/02/2006
Sold by:	Penguin Group
Format:	eBook
Pages:	160
File size:	135 KB
Age Range:	12 Years

About the Author

Elisa Carbone taught in the Speech Communications department at the University of Maryland, but now she enjoys being a full-time writer and part-time rock climber, windsurfer, and white-water kayaker. “The physical exertion of the sports balances out the mental exertion of writing,” she says. She loves doing the research required to write historical fiction and is fascinated by the small details of everyday life in the past. Ms. Carbone’s Sarah books, Starting School with an Enemy and Sarah and the Naked Truth, have been praised for their accessibility to reluctant readers.

Editorial Reviews

Exploring well-publicized social issues violence at high schools, cliques, white supremacist groups Carbone's (Stealing Freedom) novel juggles a number of themes, with mixed results. Becky, the 15-year-old narrator, initially shrinks from the new kid, Akhil, a heavily scarred, dark-skinned boy with a British accent who disturbs both his teachers and classmates. But Becky's best friend, Omar, is fascinated with Akhil, and soon Becky is, too especially after he confides that he is the subject of a top-secret study at the National Institutes of Health. Cementing the bond among the three is their outraged discovery of white supremacist propaganda belonging to Kyle, a repugnant upperclassman who, joyriding two years earlier, ran down Becky's younger brother and caused him irreparable spinal damage. Making use of Akhil's uncanny intelligence and breaking more than a few laws, the three get hold of Kyle's notebook and find his hit list, which includes Akhil (for the color of his skin), Omar (half-breed), Becky (race mixer) and even her brother (gimp). How can they convince the authorities that they have, as Akhil puts it, stumbled upon the plans for a massacre? The twist here is Akhil's secret: he was raised by wolves in India, and as a result has developed a wolf's keen senses. Kids intrigued by Julie of the Wolves and stories of wild children may enjoy this development; others may feel short-changed by the late emergence of so far-fetched a premise in an otherwise realistic book. Ages 12-up. (Apr.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

Gr 6-9-Becky, 15, is an overweight misfit at high school and Omar, her friend, is of mixed-race parentage. Into their lives comes a Hindu boy, Akhil Vyas, who has scars on his body, sits on the classroom floor, and simply walks out when something upsets him. Furthermore, he reveals that he is being studied at the National Institutes of Health, but he won't say why (until nearly the close of the book). As Becky and Omar get to know Akhil and form a bond with him, they are exposed to an older student's neo-Nazi ideas and hatred, and gradually realize that he may be planning a dramatic act of violence at school. From this point the story builds to an exciting and devastating climax. While Akhil's character is not entirely believable, this is a highly entertaining story. Becky and Omar are nicely developed characters, although Kyle is one-dimensional and an altogether evil presence. Akhil's early years, which have brought him to the NIH study, are described in such a way that readers will want to suspend disbelief. His ethic has been molded on that of a wild wolf pack, and there is much wolf lore integrated into the plot. An author's note elaborates on wolves and the inspiration for Akhil. Several Web sites dealing with school violence are also appended. This novel is an out-and-out suspense thriller with a twist; it should definitely appeal to reluctant readers.-Bruce Anne Shook, Mendenhall Middle School, Greensboro, NC Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

The tip-off that there will be mayhem occurs in the first paragraph of this awkward effort that pairs the theme of wolf behavior with a Columbine-style school massacre. When Akhil shows up in a suburban Washington high school, he causes a commotion. Apart from his accent, his refusal to sit in a chair, and his outbursts in class, Akhil’s neck and arms are heavily scarred. Adding to the intrigue, Akhil is in D.C. so that the NIH can study him, although he can’t reveal why. Soon, Akhil befriends two other outcasts in the school: Becky, who is fat, and her friend Omar, whose father, killed in the Gulf War, was black and his mother white. The three are united in their antipathy for Kyle Metzger, who crippled Becky’s little brother in a case of reckless driving, but whose lawyer father got him off scot-free. A new reason to loathe and fear Kyle emerges: he totes Aryan Nation hate literature around in his backpack, along with a hit list. Although the three briefly consider going to the police or the school authorities, they reject that option in favor of doing their own investigation. Akhil, who turns out to have been raised by wolves in India, has some ideas about applying the laws of the pack to the social universe of the high school. The plot is too much of a stretch to take seriously and the ending, though violent, is curiously unemotional. An author’s note offers information on wolves, examples of real "wolf children," and Web sites about school violence. (Fiction. 12-14)

Kirkus Reviews