Book Review: Choices by Deborah Lynn Jacobs

We all make choices. Some are good. Some are not. Nothing impacts your future like your choices. Recently ICL interviewed Deborah Lynn Jacobs about plot on the message boards (here's the link: http://www.institutechildrenslit.com/rx/tr01/dljacobs2.shtml). Deborah is the author of Powers and Choices. Since she was talking to us specifically about plot, I decided to pick up her book from the library and read it.

Choices is the story of Kathleen, a girl whose brother has been killed in a auto accident. Kathleen feels responsible for his death since she called her brother to rescue her from a New Year's party where she was stranded because she didn't have her driver's license. As her subconscious searches for an alternate time where he is still alive, she begins to shift between the alternate universes that are developed based on her choices.

The premise behind this book is quite interesting, and we see the differences in Kathleen's life not only based on her own choices but those of the people around her. She quickly discovers that she has to deal with the results of her bad decisions, and I consider this the strength of the book. It is her journey to discover the power of her personal choices. The ending is satisfying as the author shows Kathleen using her power of choice in not only determining her future success, but in also correcting her decisions of the past and impacting the lives of others positively.

This is definitely an upper teen or adult read since some of Kathleen's choices aren't good. Because of this, you won't find it in the children's area at the library. Be forewarned that it contains some language as well as sensitive subjects you would probably want to discuss with a teen such as drug use, appropriate relationships, and submission to authority.