Shattered. (Slated Trilogy, Book Three). Teri Terry. New York, NY: Nancy Paulsen Books (Distributed in Canada by Penguin Canada), 2014. 305 pp., hardcover, $19.99. ISBN 978-0-399-16174-2. Subject Headings: Memory-Fiction. Identity-Fiction. Government, Resistance to-Fiction. England-Fiction. Science fiction. Grades 8-12 / Ages 13-17. Review by Andrew Laudicina. ***½ /4

excerpt:

Something bumps my foot and I almost scream. I glance down; the small boy is crawling under the seats. Ahead they have reached his mother. Her face is beyond pale, more gray, and her shaking hand holds out her ID and ticket. The guard scans them; they pass. But the Lorder’s lips curve in a small smile of satisfaction. He knows. He is certain he’s found the one he looks for. It’s not me. He holds up the retinal scanner to her eye. Instead of a beep, it buzzes. His smile widens.

His hand clamps on her shoulder, pulls her up. Pushes her into the aisle. “Walk!” he barks. They start toward the front of the car. There is a small cry behind. I don’t dare turn, but she does, and her face crumples. Moments later one of the Lorders from the back of the car walks past, dragging the small boy along with him.

They disappear through the front connecting door. No one says anything; no one looks at anyone. I’m horrified, but also relieved. They weren’t after me. Not this time. But if my seat had been before hers, and they’d scanned my retinas...I quake inside.

And then I’m ashamed. What will happen to them now? I’ll never know if she did anything bad enough to warrant being hauled off by the Lorders like that; I’ll never know what happens to her, or her son. What if everyone in this car had said, together, No, you can’t take them. Could we have stopped it?

The answer might have been yes, for a few minutes. But they’d have reinforcements at the next station; we’d all be arrested and taken away. We’d face the same fate as she will. Is that good enough reason to say nothing?

What if every person in the country said no, all at once, like Aiden thinks they will if they know what really goes on. They can’t arrest every single one of us.

With Lorders and anti-government terrorists convinced of her death, Kyla, under the new alias of Riley, returns to her hometown in an attempt to pick up the pieces of the life that was taken from her pre-slating. Helping her along in this endeavour is Stella, her recently discovered birth mother. However, when Kyla notices inconsistencies in the story she is being told, she begins to investigate on her own, revealing a troubling family secret and, in the process, a heinous crime which, if exposed, would provide unmistakable proof of the oppression of the Lorders and bring down the government. Convinced she must do the right thing, Kyla turns to friends both old and new, but, with potential enemies even in her own family, she may already be in danger.

     A thrilling finale brings closure to burning mysteries from Slated and Fractured, the first two books in Teri Terry’s “Slated” trilogy, and compellingly introduces (and answers) several new ones in the process. Perhaps it’s all a bit too tidy and rushed for the space allotted, but it’s satisfying nonetheless. The book’s epilogue, in particular, provides a lasting quality of optimism and hope, despite an uncertain future. Readers will revel in Kyla’s maturation into a strong, sympathetic heroine, unwilling to be corrupted or to compromise her principles.

     Themes explored (sense of belonging, identity, power and politics, and family) remain relatively intact from the previous books; the one exception being morality, which is deftly measured against notions of forgiveness and freewill, and the inherent banality of good and evil that resides in all people. Kyla and Ben are reunited, although their relationship is in disarray, complicated by the circumstance of Ben’s captivity by Lorders (occurring at the end of Slated) and the introduction of a potential new love interest for Kyla. With the inclusion of this romantic triangle, Shattered, perhaps more so than the previous two books in the trilogy, moves closer to female audiences; regardless of this, appeal will be broad as Terry has written more than a simple love story. Emotionally evocative, thought-provoking, suspenseful—even chilling at times—Shattered is the rare instance of a final book in a trilogy surpassing its predecessors.
     

Highly Recommended.

Andrew Laudicina, a MLIS graduate from the University of Western Ontario in London, currently resides in Windsor, ON.

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