Banished by Sophie Littlefield

October 12th 2010 by Delacorte Books for Young Readers

Hardcover, 302 Pages

Borrowed Compliments of Library

There isn’t much worth living for in Gypsum, Missouri—or Trashtown, as the rich kids call the run-down neighborhood where sixteen-year-old Hailey Tarbell lives. Hailey figures she’ll never belong—not with the popular kids at school, not with the rejects, not even with her cruel, sickly grandmother, who deals drugs out of their basement. Hailey never knew her dead mother, and she has no idea who her father was, but at least she has her four-year-old foster brother, Chub. Once she turns eighteen, Hailey plans to take Chub far from Gypsum and start a new life where no one can find them.

But when a classmate is injured in gym class, Hailey discovers a gift for healing that she never knew she possessed—and that she cannot ignore. Not only can she heal, she can bring the dying back to life. Confused by her powers, Hailey searches for answers but finds only more questions..........(Partial Synopsis from Goodreads)

Review

Wow- that synopsis really sums it up. Leading to the discovery of her special powers Hailey has never felt right. Shes an outsider (a dirty, scrubby outsider) who never fits in yet is drawn to a certain group of kids called the Morries who live in Trashtown along with Hailey. The Morries even with their equal outsider status in school and the community have made it clear they want nothing to do with Hailey. The Tarbell's are a breed of their own and no one gos near them, even though many of the families buy drugs from Alice, Hailey's disgusting Grandmother. The  Morrie kids have been instructed to keep away and while Hailey is intrigued by them and needs a friend to talk to, she really just wants to escape, she plans to graduate and leave town with her foster brother Chub who is a four year old special needs child.

Inserting yourself into Hailey's world isn't hard for the reader, think of a mature, lonely foster teenager with beautiful hair and dirty fingernails, one who has a load of responsibility on her shoulders and has absolutely no support system. She lives with her foster parent (in Hailey's case her grandmother) who chain smokes, lays around the house all day, is dirty, smelly, abusive and collects the state checks to pay for her cigarettes. Hailey takes care of her brother Chub and wants to meet his needs even though he should be in a special school and be receiving special care. She cooks, cleans and trys to escape her grandmothers slaps not to mention the douche-bags that grace the house almost every night to buy drugs. Hailey's character is one you want to get to know and see things get better for her. Just when you know something bad is coming for her (sexually) and things are going to get even more terrible, Hailey's long lost Aunt Prairie arrives and the story shifts dramatically and really takes off into an action packed suspenseful journey.

During the journey we learn that Hailey is a member of the Banished and the reader gets the history behind all of the families. Why the Morries are attached to Hailey's life but yet stay away. Why shes so drawn to them yet scared at the same time. Haileys development was surely the anchor in this story, as she grew the story grew however my favorite aspect of the novel was learning about the history of the Banished. I really wanted more of the historical story and I'm hoping Littlefield explores this in future installments.

A surprisingly very well written and intriguing YA novel. I loved every minute of this fun and mysterious story except for the ending that felt so rushed it came across very abrupt. I realized I was going to be sitting with a lot of unanswered questions which left me a bit annoyed. I'm predicting certain things to come and was for sure shocked with a few paranormal revelations in the plotline, it left on such a cliffhanger its hard to wait for the continuation.......please sequel come soon......!!

Rating

Banished is recommended to mature teens and adults. Content includes: Violence, rape situations without actual rape scenes, drugs, drinking, suicide, death, language and mild sensuality-mostly dialog.

4.5/5- YA-Paranormal (Healers and something I cant share without ruining the book)-Suspense and is it just me or does the eyeball on the cover kind of stare at you and make you feel a little creepy....