0
0
by Ahnali Morris
staff reporter
For Michael Vey, school is worse than sitting through a romance movie where all they do is kiss. Vey has always had to deal with bullying and it is only worse knowing that he could fight back, but won’t.
Vey is nothing close to a normal kid. Not only does he have Tourette syndrome, but he also has a secret. Vey contains the ability to shock people with electrical currents. Ostin Liss (Vey’s best friend) measured Vey’s electricity with a multimeter. The meter showed that Vey can produce eight hundred sixty-four volts of electricity.
Vey’s ability makes him a target to scientists that are trying to use kids like him to rule the world. After Vey’s mom and one of his friends are kidnapped, Vey sets out on a mission to save them.
The book “Michael Vey” is a science fiction novel written by Richard Paul Evans. “Michael Vey” was published in August of 2011 and is the first book in a series of 7 novels. Evans has written many books; however “Michael Vey” was his first teen fiction.
Evans was born in the 1960s; he later became an advertising executive, award-winning clay animator, and a state legislature candidate. Evans wrote his first book, “The Christmas Box,” when he was fifty-eight.
“Life has taught me that to fly, you must first accept the possibility of falling,” Evans said.
Evans received rejection letters from Deseret Book and Bookcraft while trying to publish his first novel. After these rejections, Evans went on to self-publish seven thousand copies of “The Christmas Box”.
To date, Evans has published 36 national bestselling novels. One of his novels “Michael Vey” was number one on the New York Times bestselling chapter book list during the week ending August 28, 2011.
“Michael Vey” begins with the main character, Michael Vey, a teenage boy who lives in Idaho and has electric abilities. Vey has a small stature and passive personality making him the perfect victim for bullies.
Vey becomes fed up with being picked on and uses his electric abilities to stun three of his high school’s biggest bullies. Unfortunately the cheerleader Taylor Ridley sees what Vey can do. After discussion and the shocking revelation that Ridley also has electric powers they form a secret club the members of which include Vey, Ridley and Ostin Liss (Vey’s best friend).
The club’s purpose is to figure out how Ridley and Vey received their abilities. When Liss starts researching their births an alert is sent to scientists that are studying others with similar abilities. These scientists then invite Vey and Ridley to Elgen Academy on full scholarship. However, before they are able to respond, Vey’s mom and Ridley are kidnapped.
With his mother and friend gone, Vey enlists the help of one of the school bullies to rescue them. Along the way, Vey finds out that there are 16 others like him and he uncovers a plot to use these electric kids to rule the world.
As a teen novel “Michael Vey” addresses the concern of bullying. Not only is there bullying among the high school students, there is also bullying from adults. Evan took a more realistic approach to addressing this common issue.
Vey is reluctant to tell anyone about what some of the other students are doing. He even accepted four weeks of detention in order to not have to tell the school who was bullying him.
Despite everything that happens to Vey this novel contains no explicit context and minimal violence. It is easily appropriate for people ten and under. “Michael Vey” is a book that could be read at any age or by any personality.
“Michael Vey” is an exciting novel with many twists and turns. This book keeps its readers hanging on the edge of their seats to see what the next chapter has in store.
