Van Bender and the Spirit Tether

Van Bender and the Spirit Tether

S. James Nelson

Paranormal

56 pages

Young teen

Warnings: none

   Richie Van Bender is a famous rockstar at age 15, despite never having had a concert. His mother is an extreme helicopter mother who won't allow him to have unsupervised conversations with his two friends, Kurt and Sandra, see any of his fans or anyone else for that matter, especially other rockstars. When Kurt and Sandra manage to sneak Richie an I-pad, Bobby Fretboard gets a hold of him and Richie begins plotting ways to get around his mom's hovering to meet him.

Writing Style: 5/10

   This was written in a style that I believe was a bit young for the audience. I also believe that the way Richie handles his mom's behavior is a little unrealistic. I feel as though at 15 he would be rebelling harder and constantly. There are also these little quotes that I feel that are unnecessary. They do help with seeing the other characters intentions, but it also really breaks me out of the story.

Plot: 8/10

   The plot was fairly interesting. A rockstar who is basically on lockdown due to his mother is trying to break out of his tiny world and have a more normal life.

Originality: 7/10

   The idea of a rebellious teen or an overprotective mother isn't new, but how Nelson pulled it off was interesting. He added a paranormal element (which is also not new), but the details of it were what made it interesting, but were also a major part of the climax.

Enjoyability- 6/10

   The story wasn't terrible. It had an interesting premise and I did find myself wanting to find out what was going on, but not nearly as much as some other things I've read.

End- 7/10

   The end was pretty good. It answered most of the questions that came up during the course of the story while leaving a few and raising some more to make you want to buy the sequel.

Overall- 33/50

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