The Thin Executioner

     A few weeks ago, our school was lucky enough to snag an author visit with Darren Shan of the Cirque du Freak series. The kids were excited, but I think the teachers were more excited. On the day of the assembly, I got there early to sit in the front and had the chance to meet Mr. Shan. He is nothing like I expected, and I was worried about how he was going to entertain our interesting collection of students. He didn't have a video to show or anything with him. He got on stage with a piece of paper and started to read from his new series Zom-B. And promptly had 300 eighth graders on the edge of their seats. Wow. Between the accent and the writing, he had us all in the palm of his hand. He personalized the kids books and took pictures with all of us. It was an amazing experience for all of us. Kids who don't read are walking around with his books now. He talked about his one stand alone book, one that I had not picked up yet. He convinced me to read it through the passion he had for it. I couldn't put it down.
     This is the story of Jebel, the executioner's runty son. He is destined to be nothing as he is the youngest, weakest son of the famed executioner. When his father humiliates him in front of the town, he goes off on a quest to ask the gods for strength to win the executioner competition. If he can win, he can have the girl of his dreams (the snotty Debbat). One twist is that he must bring a human sacrifice if his wish is to come true. He brings Tel Hasani, a slave who will sacrifice himself if his family is set free. Jebel has no regard for human life and thinks the slave is less than human. The two set out on the quest and nothing goes smoothly. They meet many different tribes of people on the way and learn much about other cultures. Jebel even gets to experience what it is like to be a slave. This is a coming of age story with many great messages about life, acceptance, duty and family. Jebel experiences great change and it affects what happens when he returns home to compete for the executioner job. I won't give away the ending, it is fantastic and uplifting and lovely. I am so glad that Mr. Shan shared his tale with us and equally glad to have read this book. The kids will be so glad I am done, they have been eyeing the book on my desk all week. Time to read my book club book and then on to some long awaited sequels, Scarlet, Prodigy, The Runaway King. Two weeks until spring break and maybe I can make a little dent in the pile. Until then, Happy reading my friends!