The Ability was written by Monica Meira Vaughan. It was a powerful, incredible book. It is over 300 pages long, but you would not know it. You can breeze through this book because it is so fun. You always want to see what happens next.
The book starts out with a somewhat confusing but impactful Prologue. It takes place thirty years before the rest of the story. Two teachers are with some students who are using mind powers to see what is happening far away. Then, people start attacking the car that they are in. They kill a boy named Danny, and capture a girl named Anna. Anna got knocked unconscious. When she came to, she was on a boat with two people who are trying to take her Ability. The people tell her to look up at the cliff. Anna sees the car she was in drive off. They have already given up on her.
In Chapter 1, a boy named Christopher is in a principal’s office. It seems like he’s been there before, which is true. A teacher accuses Chris of stealing a 20 pound note from her purse. Chris denies the claim, but the principal and the teacher do not like him so they give him suspension. Chris just runs out of the school. When he is outside, he removes a 20 pound note from his shoe.
It turns out that Chris lives in a broken home, literally. Everything is dirty, messy, broken, or stained. Christopher’s mother does not do anything. Chris has to pay the bills, make food, clean up (as much as he can manage), and still go to school. Christopher’s mother is like this because her husband, Chris’ dad, died in a war. She does not leave the house, in fact, she barely leaves her chair. She just watches television all day.
The following day, Chris returns to school. He runs into Miss Sonata. She needs helps setting up chairs in the cafeteria for meeting with students. Chris helps her carry the chairs down. When they get there Miss Sonata knows that Chris is, different. She wants to arrange a meeting with him. However, the principal of the school comes in and tells Chris to go home. Later on, Miss Sonata visits Chris at his home, on Chris’ birthday. She has a meeting with him and, well, finds out what she’s suspected all along.
The Ability is extraordinary. That is the perfect word to describe it. It has lots of action, suspense, mystery, and some comedy, as well. Luckily, there is a sequel coming soon, Mindscape. I knew there would be one because there was a cliff hanger ending. There is not a dry spot in this book, no page that I had read twice to understand it. It is like Harry Potter for the next generation. This book is great for anyone, young or old. I would certainly recommend it.