Undercurrents

By Willo Davis Roberts

Book Overview

Stepmothers aren't always evil...Sometimes they are just odd and secretive. Only eight months after her mother's death, Nikki's father announces he's getting remarried. Her name is Crystal, and she's barely older than Nikki and Nikki's older sister, Bonnie. Though Bonnie and Nikki's younger brother, Sam, agree with Nikki that Crystal isn't your typical stepmother, they don't see anythingthatparticular in her behavior. She's just shy.But Nikki doesn't believe it. Crystal is hidding something. Why else would she cry out in the night or refuse to be seen in public without glasses and a scarf around her head? Most importantly, why would she forbid Nikki to work for the old man who lives in the next house over? As Nikki explores these questions and more, she quickly discovers that beneath the surface things aren't always what they seem.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0689859945
• ISBN13: 9780689859946
• Release Date: August 2003
• Publisher: Aladdin Paperbacks
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.6" x 7.7"
• Age Range: 9 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 4 to 7

Customer Reviews

Undercurrents

Nikki, Bonnie, Sam, and Jeremy's mom past away 6 months ago and already their dad has gotten remarried to a nice, shy young women named Crystal. Crystal is not use to having to cook, clean, and take care of three kids since Bonnie the oldest child went off to collage . But things start to go wrong after the family returns to the house that Crystal grew up in and then inherted it from here dear Aunt Edna. After getting there Jeff their dad has to leave on busniss in Seattle and leaves Crystal to take care of the kids. Then the secerts start to emerage. Crystal starts to have terrible nightmares and wakes Nikki from her sleep. It just sop happenes that Crystals reasons for all the disgues is because when she was a child, she awoke to see the her parents had been mudered , the knife still in the middle of the room. But the worse was yet to come, Nikki had taken a job fo a man named Mr. Gyasis and he was Crystal's uncle and Mr. Gyasis had a little brother named Cecil B. Gyasis. Nikki had to put all the pieces of the puzzle tyogether The B. in his named stood for Bruce. Bruce was the man who worked for the Gyasis family and he was the one who had killed Crystal mom and dad the one terrrible night and that same man was now on the loose. But oe night the power went out and a storm was in rage and lightning hit the Gyasis tower on their house and it was now up to them to save the family and the house before it was to late.

A quick and light read, but interesting

I started reading this book with low expectations. Although Willo Davis Roberts was one of my favorite authors when I was in Elementary and Middle School, I found that some of her newer books seemed to all have the same plot lines. When I saw this book on the library shelf, I picked it up to see it that was still the case. It wasn't. The first few chapters drag on, but about a quarter of the way through, the plot picks up the pace. New characters are introduced, and as they are developed, the reader is more and more absorbed into the book. The plot is guessable but not predictable and the climax is not the cliche I thought it would be. I am several years older than the target range, and still enjoyed it immensely. The only fault I found with this book was the author's writing style- something about it constantly annoyed me. It was not enough to merit knocking a star off the rating, though. I think that anyone under the age of twelve or so will have no problem with it.

Undercurrents By: Willo Davis Roberts

Undercurrents connects me with an unordinary family. When I read this book, I thought that Nikki and Crystal had a special relationship that no other step-mom and step-daughter have. Their relationship is very unique. This book also keeps you guessing, making predictions and then at the end of the book it takes a huge turn at the end. I think this book is definatly a girl book. At first it was boring but give it until about page 75.It gets way better at the end,TRUST ME! Sincerely, Nikki

Undercurrents Review By Jess

Undercurrents Why does your stepmother, Crystal, insist on wearing a hat that covers her face, a scarf that covers her hair and sunglasses in public? While on a family vacation at Crystals Aunt Edna's house, that she inherited, why doesn't she want anything to do with the house? How come Crystal dyes her hair the color of mud, even though she didn't want to? Why won't Crystal let Nikki, who is fourteen, go to her new job typing a manuscript at the Gyasi's, (the neighbors) house, even though Nikki's dad said she could? This is what Nikki is trying to find out in, this mysterious book by Willo Davis Roberts, Undercurrents. In this book, Undercurrents, Nikki's mom dies after being sick for a year, and her dad comes home, only eight months after his wife dies and says he's engaged! Nikki, her older sister Bonnie and her younger brother Sam are really surprised, and at least Nikki was pretty angry. I think anybody would be mad and upset if you've had two different moms in less than a year! The events in this book you mainly learn about Nikki's family vacation, that's not so normal or peaceful. I thought vacations on a beach would be awesome, I guess it would if Nikki's mom was still alive and with them, but now there's Crystal and it's changing everything. Nikki is starting to get alarmed from waking up from Crystal screaming her head off from her nightmares, what's making Crystal so jumpy? In Undercurrents, Nikki's dad receives an urgent message and has to go home. Crystal dyes her hair mud brown and she won't let Nikki go to her new job next door. What's next? Nikki and Crystal definitely don't know, but they find out after they become a team and learn to get along. After they've become a team they figure out that someone living in the house next door is a murderer! Willo Davis Robert's theme is most likely mystery or suspense. The whole mood of Undercurrents is kind of spooky; it's spooky in Scared Stiff too, also by Willo Davis Roberts. There is a lot of thrilling suspense when Nikki is trying to figure out why Crystal is acting so strange without her knowing. There are a lot of cliffhangers after every chapter when it just leaves you hanging, asking yourself tons of questions that heart your head! If you're into mysteries and spookiness, you'll definitely want to read this awesome book! If you get freaked out easily or don't like realistic fiction then you might want to pick up another book while at the library. Even if you haven't like realistic fiction in the past, you should definitely want to try it out again by reading Undercurrents!

Tells of a family recovering from a mother's death

Willo Davis Roberts' Undercurrents tells of a family recovering from a mother's death, when the father announces remarriage to a woman only slightly older than his daughters. Nikki is not only troubled by her father's sudden marriage; she finds her new young stepmother's behavior hides a deeper mystery that her father doesn't seem to sense: a puzzle which will bring them all into danger. Excellent tension throughout to the unexpected conclusion.