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Sixteen-year-old Jules Demarco sees a vision, first on billboards and then everywhere: a snowplow crashes into a building causing it to explode, and then there are nine body bags. "It's like a movie trailer with no sound, no credits. And nobody sees it but me." Jules' mission ce she puts aside issues of her own sanity to figure out when and where the accident is happening and try to prevent it. Mixed in is a long-standing family rivalry with the Agottis, owners of the other Italian restaurant in town (the DeMarcos live above their restaurant), and Jules' forbidden love for classmate Sawyer Agotti. The popular author of the Wake trilogy and Cryer's Cross (2011) will please her large fan base with this readable mystery, which has suspense, romance, and strong supporting characters in Jules' siblings, Trey and Rowan. While the plot is a little slow to start, it speeds up enough midway through to ensure readers will be flipping the pages. The unexpected ending will leave many in disbelief and anticipating the second book in the series.
Kirkus ReviewsSeeing is believing…unless you're the only one with the vision. McMann kicks off the first book in her new Visions series with a bang. On nearly every flat surface--billboards, televisions and road signs--Jules Demarco sees an out-of-control snowplow crash into a restaurant, causing an explosion and killing those inside. With a depressed grandfather who committed suicide and a moody, hoarder father, she's certain her Italian family will commit her if they find out about her visions. There's also their probable anger to contend with: The restaurant in Jules' vision is their rival pizza parlor, and one of the dead is Sawyer Angotti, her secret, lifelong crush and son of the adversarial restaurateur. As in the Wake trilogy, a strong female protagonist pairs with quick pacing, realistic dialogue and the right amount of romance to drive this suspenseful story. Using clues from her ever more frequent visions, social outcast Jules tries to figure out the exact time of the crash in an attempt to thwart it, risking her already shaky standing with Sawyer, her parents and her classmates. In the process of saving lives, she also discovers some dark family secrets. The teen's occasional lists of five items, such as "Five reasons why I, Jules Demarco, am shunned," keep the drama on the lighter side. McMann is on her way to becoming the next queen of supernatural thrillers. (Supernatural thriller. 14 & up)
School Library Journal (Fri Mar 01 00:00:00 CST 2013)Gr 8 Up-Jules Demarco never knows when or where the vision of the explosion will appear. She's seen it on billboards, windows, the TV at home, and anywhere there is a flat surface. The vision is always the same: a truck running into a building and exploding, then nine body bags laid out. She gets a glimpse of one face-Sawyer Angotti-son of a rival pizzeria-owning family and Jules's secret crush. Not sure what to do, she thinks the first thing is to warn Sawyer that his life is in danger. Too bad her family has forbidden her to talk to him. As the vision appears more frequently, Jules is certain she's supposed to figure out the when and where of the explosion and stop it from happening. In the process, her family believes that she's starting down the same slippery slope her father and grandfather have been on. The story is told from Jules's point of view, which gives readers access to her thought processes and the vision itself. It alternates between seriousness and humor as she describes life at school and working in the family's pizzeria. As with her "Wake" series (S &; S), McMann has created a strong female character determined to do what she must. An excellent first book in a new series. Natalie Struecker, Rock Island Public Library, IL
Horn Book (Thu Aug 01 00:00:00 CDT 2013)Jules sees the vision--a truck hitting a building and exploding--everywhere; is she seeing the future or is she insane? Hoping for the former, she risks looking crazy to try to save the people in her vision: her family's business rivals and their son, whom she secretly loves. This suspenseful series opener is fast paced and features a likable heroine.
ALA Booklist (Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 CST 2013)
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
Kirkus Reviews
School Library Journal (Fri Mar 01 00:00:00 CST 2013)
Horn Book (Thu Aug 01 00:00:00 CDT 2013)
My sophomore psych teacher, Mr. Polselli, says knowledge is crucial to understanding the workings of the human brain, but I swear to dog, I don’t want any more knowledge about this.
Every few days I see it. Sometimes it’s just a picture, like on that billboard we pass on the way to school. And other times it’s moving, like on a screen. A careening truck hits a building and explodes. Then nine body bags in the snow.
It’s like a movie trailer with no sound, no credits. And nobody sees it but me.
• • •
Some days after psych class I hang around by the door of Mr. Polselli’s room for a minute, thinking that if I have a mental illness, he’s the one who’ll be able to tell me. But every time I almost mention it, it sounds too weird to say. So, uh, Mr. Polselli, when other people see the “turn off your cell phones” screen in the movie theater, I see an extra five-second movie trailer. Er . . . and did I mention I see stills of it on the billboard by my house? You see Jose Cuervo, I see a truck hitting a building and everything exploding. Is that normal?
The first time was in the theater on the one holiday that our parents don’t make us work—Christmas Day. I poked my younger sister, Rowan. “Did you see that?”
She did this eyebrow thing that basically says she thinks I’m an idiot. “See what?”
“The explosion,” I said softly.
“You’re on drugs.” Rowan turned to our older brother, Trey, and said, “Jules is on drugs.”
Trey leaned over Rowan to look at me. “Don’t do drugs,” he said seriously. “Our family has enough problems.”
I rolled my eyes and sat back in my seat as the real movie trailers started. “No kidding,” I muttered. And I reasoned with myself. The day before I’d almost been robbed while doing a pizza delivery. Maybe I was still traumatized.
I just wanted to forget about it all.
But then on MLK Day this stupid vision thing decided to get personal.
Excerpted from Crash by Lisa McMann
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
If what you see is what you get, Jules is in serious trouble. The suspenseful first in a series from the New York Times bestselling author of the Wake trilogy.
Jules lives with her family above their restaurant, which means she smells like pizza most of the time and drives their double-meatball-shaped food truck to school. It’s not a recipe for popularity, but she can handle that.
What she can’t handle is the recurring vision that haunts her. Over and over, Jules sees a careening truck hit a building and explode...and nine body bags in the snow.
The vision is everywhere—on billboards, television screens, windows—and she’s the only one who sees it. And the more she sees it, the more she sees. The vision is giving her clues, and soon Jules knows what she has to do. Because now she can see the face in one of the body bags, and it’s someone she knows. Someone she has been in love with for as long as she can remember.
In this riveting start to a gripping series from New York Times bestselling author Lisa McMann, Jules has to act—and act fast—to keep her vision from becoming reality.