Stopper - Mark W. Jarrell

Pages: approx.. 163

Source:  I purchased

Genre: Young Adult, Science Fiction

Excerpt from Amazon:

"As the boy with the purple ball cap walked towards the tennis court, he could see that it had been an energetic point that was going on. ...that had been going on. He stopped for a moment to assess the situation, shrugged his slim shoulders and continued walking. He opened up the door to the fence that surrounded the courts and stepped out onto the green concrete. The ball was now sitting perfectly still just a foot or so off the ground near the tall lanky boy with the not-completely-grown-in mustache. No one on the court was moving. Everyone was perfectly still--frozen in mid-motion on the court. [...] It was really eerie. It was almost as if someone had hit the pause button on the remote control. Except, this was real life on pause, not a movie."

Seventeen-year-old Johnny (otherwise known as Stopper) has the unusual ability to stop time for the rest of the world. And it's a power that he himself can't control. He can't interact with people in a normal way because of his power and has multiple character flaws that have developed as a result. A group of friends at the local school start to notice the strange things happening whenever this particular boy is around and they try their best to make contact with him. They eventually end up adopting him as one of their own, all the while trying to protect him from a looming threat.

Imagine being able to stop time.  That is exactly what Stopper can do.  As cool as I thought this would be, I soon realized as I read the book that there was an awful lot of responsibility to go along with that ability, as well as a lot of problems.  Stopper is a runaway who has the ability to stop time.  After being on his on for about four years he finally makes friends.  He will need these friends.  Stopper has an enemy.  He is not sure why someone wants him dead but now he's sure someone does.  There is a lot of mystery surrounding this kid.  I liked that.  I also liked thinking I was going to figure something out only to have the author throw a curve ball.  Suddenly there was another issue that had to be dealt with.  It wasn't out of place or an in your face type of curve ball. Suddenly the tension increased with that little bit of knowledge that was thrown in that made you sit up and go, "oh, how will that affect this... and what about that...?"  This author definitely  has it together.  I read the book from beginning to end.  I could not stop reading from the minute I picked it up until I finished the book.  It has a satisfying ending yet is ended in such a way that maybe we will see a sequel.  I definitely recommend this as really good science fiction book.