Sam really doesn’t have much direction in life. True, he has an apartment of his own, but he dropped out of college and is working at a fast food joint. He does have some close friends and a mother and sister whom he loves. This is good – especially after meeting Douglas, a suit wearing, imposing man who claims that Sam is a necromancer…like him. All of a sudden Sam’s slightly below average life becomes very interesting. Oh, and a bit violent, too.
One friend loses her head (and yet “lives” to tell Sam and others about it). A new friend has a tendency to turn into a wolf from time to time. His mom has a few things she’s been hiding from him as well.
Sam isn’t sure what to make of his life, and with Douglas’ promises of more violence and death pressuring him to make some difficult decisions (a la “come to the dark side or I’ll torture and kill everyone you know”), he doesn’t have much time to figure everything out. What’s a guy with newly found supernatural powers to do?
Likes
Almost every - if not all - chapter is a lyric (or a play on lyrics) – mostly from well known songs. The chapter titles are subtly linked to the events in the chapter. I’m not sure how many teens would get this, but I loved it.
Because of the title I keep having the chorus of Elton John's Tiny Dancer going through my head. I'm not sure that is a like, though. While I enjoy the song, it gets old quickly!
This book is full of humor, which I adore.
There’s appeal for both guys and gals. There’s a little romance…and there’s a bit of gore. A great balance of the two. There’s adventure. Magic. Sex. Skateboards. What more could a reader want?
Dislikes
Um…the story ended? Really, I enjoyed this book so much that I was kind of sad when it was finished.
Other
This book is on the 2011 Morris award shortlist.
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