The Twelve-Fingered Boy

The Twelve-Fingered Boy by John Hornor Jacobs

The Twelve-Fingered Boy by  John Hornor Jacobs.  Carolrhoda Books Minneapolis, MN, 2013. ISBN 978-0761390077

Summary

Shreveport Justice Cannon in a ward at the Casmir Pulaski Juvenile Detention  Center, after he was shot trying to steal a truck from his trailer park home. While his life before wasn’t any better than life now, Shreve survives his temporary home by cons and shelling out candy contraband.  His new cellmate, Jack, is strange and quiet—even more so then the other cellmates Shreve has had.  Jack doesn’t talk much about his past or what he did to go to juvie. He doesn’t sleep, is a perfect target for the juvie bullies, and is mocked for his twelve fingers.

But there’s something different about Jack. When Shreve first embarrasses Jack, the air changes and Shreve feels like he’s having an asthma attack. Shreve is sure this is just a one-time thing, something that he imagined in his mind.  But when more attacks happen and a strange man from Department of Health and Human Services comes to pay Jack a visit, Shreve begins to wonder if his new roommate is really human.

Critical Evaluation

The tone of “The Twelve-Fingered Boy” works well with the juvenile detention setting.  Jacobs portrays the daily life and mental abuse of the center well, making it easy for the readers to imagine the hell Shreve and Jack find themselves in.  The sense of danger and darkness continues throughout the book even after the characters escape the detention.

While the book isn’t a traditional superhero story, it works well with modern elements.  The typical roles of hero and sidekick are reversed in this story: quiet, unassuming Jack is the one with special powers, while talkative, slick Shreve is the one tagging along.  While the boys are forced into each other’s lives, they soon learn to watch out for each other as no one else will. The friendship between Jack and Shreve is refreshing as they take turns making fun of each other and protecting each other.

The book is the first in a planned trilogy, but Jacobs doesn’t add too many plot twists or leave the readers hanging.  The ending gives a hint as to what’s coming next, leaving the readers wanting more. “The Twelve-Fingered Boy” is an action packed read, perfect for anyone interested in nontraditional superhero stories.

Reader’s Annotation

After his new cellmate, Jack, displays strange powers, he and Shreve must escape their juvenile detention center to find out the truth.

About the Author

“John Hornor Jacobs has worked in advertising for the last fifteen years, played in bands, and pursued art in various forms. He is also, in his copious spare time, a novelist, represented by Stacia Decker of the Donald Maass Literary Agency. His first novel,Southern Gods, was published by Night Shade Books and shortlisted for the Bram Stoker Award. His second novel, This Dark Earth, was published in July, 2012, by Gallery/Pocket Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. His young adult series, The Incarcerado Trilogy comprised of The Twelve Fingered Boy, The Shibboleth, and The Conformity, will be published by Carolrhoda Labs, an imprint of Lerner Publishing.

His first fantasy series, The Incorruptibles will be published in Spring 2014 by Gollancz in the UK.

John is the co-founder of Needle: A Magazine of Noir and was the active creative director until fall 2012. He has a quartet of horror stories, Fierce As The Grave, available through Amazon.com.

John has played guitar semi-professionally and worked as an animator, videographer, designer, and all around web bon vivant for the last fifteen years – that’s a century in advertising years. He worked for such vaunted clients as Elvis Enterprises, Hallmark, U.S. Marshall Service, the U.S. Army, Phillip Morris, TCBY Yogurt, Atlantic City CVB, Albequrque CVB, the states of Kentucky, South Carolina, Arkansas, Utah. And many more clients, both large and small.

He knows the Adobe CS Master Suite backwards and forward. He can debone a chicken, whole. He has a wife and two children and makes his home in Little Rock, Arkansas.”

 (About. Retrieved September 23^rd, 2014 from http://www.johnhornorjacobs.com/about-2/)

Genres

Action/Adventure

Superheroes

Coming of Age

Curriculum Ties   N/A

Booktalking Ideas

1: Discuss how Jack is different from traditional superheroes.

2:  How does the juvenile detention setting make the book different?

Reading Level/Interest Age

Ages 13+

Grades 9+

Challenge Issues

N/A

Why included?

I included this book because of the untraditional superhero story and setting.  While the book is geared toward teen boys, anyone interested in an action story would enjoy “The Twelve-Fingered Boy.”