Trickster's Girl

By Hilari Bell

In the year 2098 America isn't so different from the USA of today. But, in a post-9/11 security-obssessed world, "secured" doesn't just refer to borders between countries, it also refer to borders between states. Teenagers still think they know everything, but there is no cure for cancer, as Kelsa knows first-hand from watching her father die.

 

The night Kelsa buries her father, a boy appears. He claims magic is responsible for the health of Earth, but  human damage disrupts its flow. The planet is dying.

 

Kelsa has the power to reverse the damage, but first she must accept that magic exists and see beyond her own pain in order to heal the planet.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Jan 3, 2011
• ISBN: 9780547529233

Hilari Bell

Hilari Bell is the author of many science fiction and fantasy novels for children and teens. She lives in Denver, Colorado.

Book preview

PROLOGUE

RAVEN HAD SPENT TOO LONG on the hunt. He cocked his head, beady eyes fixed on the sweating girl. In this form, his vision was sharp, but he'd perched near enough that even with weak human sight he could have observed the curious weave of the girl's black suit. The stark color wasn't becoming, but something about this girl spoke to senses that went beyond a bird's vision. She hadn't the luminous dimensionality of his own people, yet she was rooted in her reality. It wasn't much, but no human he'd encountered in this incarnation of the world had shown even that much promise. He'd already spent too long on the hunt. His time was running out. He had to try.

CHAPTER 1

FRIENDS, WE ARE GATHERED HERE to commemorate not the death of Jonathan Peter Phillips, but his life.

They even got the name wrong.

Though given how much else was wrong, Kelsa supposed she shouldn't complain about that. It was the name on her father's birth certificate. And his life did deserve celebration. She pushed her bangs off her sweaty forehead, wishing that the tempcontrol in her formal jacket worked better. At least she'd been able to braid her long, frizzy hair off the back of her neck. Her mother's stylish cut, the same kind of haircut she'd so often tried to talk Kelsa into, clung damply to her neck under the hot late-May sun.

Kelsa's mother had insisted on having the formal service at graveside—even though no one was actually buried anymore and as per the cemetery contract, the urn would sit on its granite pedestal for only sixty years. Her father wasn't there, so it probably didn't matter that his life was being recounted by a minister who might not even have met him.

It should have been a gathering of his friends, telling stories about the times her father had helped them or made them laugh. About his passion for the living earth he'd studied and taught. About the time he'd taken his nine-year-old daughter on a hike up a desert canyon to a hidden waterfall, where butterflies danced between the shining curtains.

The memory glowed, jewel bright. So many memories. Fifteen years of them. It wasn't enough.

Oh, Pop.

Kelsa had vowed to get through this without crying, but the tears welled up anyway. Her mother had been crying quietly since the service began, Joby sitting in her lap, even though his five-year-old body must have been both heavy and hot.

...the many years he taught biochemistry at the University of Northern Utah, the minister droned.

Kelsa blinked hard and sniffed. This wasn't her father's real funeral, and she'd cried an ocean over the last few months. She was tired of grief, tired of the whole damned mess. The simple facts the minister recited, graduated from, worked as a park ranger, met his wife in, didn't begin to encompass the reality of her father's life. Any more than the graceful black granite urn held his real ashes.

Kelsa lowered her gaze, hiding a fierce smile that no one would have understood.

***

Eventually the service ended, with a modern blessing on her father's soul and all those he had loved. No words of ashes and dust; very little about death at all. Death wasn't fashionable. Kelsa had to admit that it was the ultimate grind, but when someone died you really ought to talk about the dead part. The minister had done his best, she supposed, given that the man he was eulogizing had never set foot in a church in his life.

I like the churches God made better, he'd told Kelsa one autumn afternoon, gesturing to the towering peaks around them, the sweep of meadow and sky.

But none of this was the minister's fault, so Kelsa shook the man's hand and accepted his condolences with a polite mumble of thanks. He wasn't sweating, which either meant there really were miracles or the tempcontrol in his black coat worked better than hers.

Her mother was sweating, and she was so pale that despite the thorny wall of her anger Kelsa felt a flash of concern.

The minister must have shared it. He picked up Joby, handed him over to Kelsa, and had her mother separated from the crowd and headed toward the waiting cars of the funeral cortege in short order.

Their car had a driver supplied by the mortuary, which was just as well. Kelsa wasn't sure her mother was up to driving.

As soon as they were aboard, the repulsers lifted the car off the pavement and the chiller kicked on, ruffling Kelsa's damp bangs with a burst of cool air.

Thank God that's over, her mother murmured, sinking back in her seat.

Kelsa was suddenly furious all over again. You were saying goodbye to your husband! How can you be glad it's over?

But they'd both been saying goodbye throughout the last four horrible months, ever since the doctor pronounced her father's cancer too far advanced for even modern medicine to cure. And Kelsa knew her mother had loved her father.

She just hadn't loved him enough.

***

One of the good things about her mother's faith was that neighbors were there for each other in bad times. When someone died, that translated to a refrigerator full of casseroles, salad, and bread.

It also meant babysitters. When the car reached their house, Mrs. Stattler was waiting to take Joby off to play with Mike. Kelsa's mother took two aspirin, since the Reformed Church didn't approve of stronger drugs unless they were necessary, and lay down for a nap.

Kelsa, with nothing to do till dinnertime, fought down an unjust desire to be angry with Mrs. Stattler too. Mrs. Stattler's willingness to add Joby to her own gaggle of boys was one of the things that made her mother's excuses such carpo.

I can't take care of a five-year-old boy and a dying man, Kel. And you have to go to school, though Kelsa knew—both of them knew—that the school would have let her skip classes for months to nurse a dying father. She could have homeschooled while she did it. She wouldn't have quit. Kelsa always finished what she started.

But her mother had refused even to ask the school. Even to try. That was what Kelsa couldn't forgive. Just as her mother couldn't quite forgive her for siding with her father when he refused to give in to what he called the great irrational. Because he wanted to spend the final months of his life with his family, instead of being prayed over by strangers.

It was his choice.

And it wouldn't have worked, anyway.

Kelsa watched as her mother brought Joby home from the Stattlers' and programmed the multichef to heat their supper. She banished the sneaking sympathy as her mother picked at her food, and forced herself to respond to Joby's chatter about the mud city he and Mike were making. Mr. Stattler was an enthusiastic gardener, and his yard contained things that weren't often found in this suburban neighborhood, including old- fashioned dirt.

Including, Kelsa suddenly remembered, an old-fashioned posthole digger. Mr. Stattler always let neighbors borrow his tools. Would he be willing to lend Kelsa his posthole digger for this?

No, he'd be horrified by what she'd done, the lies she'd told.

Yes, he'd understand.

Or he'd think she was traumatized by grief and forgive her.

Kelsa knew that Mrs. Hennesy, her guidance counselor, had already told her mother that Kelsa needed to talk to someone.

This wasn't so much because Kelsa's grades had fallen—no one expected your grades to be perfect when your father was dying. It was because when Mrs. Hennesy had taken her mother's side, Kelsa had stopped talking to Mrs. Hennesy.

Kelsa's mother had suggested several times that Kelsa talk to the grief counselor at the hospice. But Kelsa had hated the hospice, hated everything about it, and she'd refused.

Of course her furious refusal made her mother, and everyone else, even more concerned about her emotional stability.

If I'd agreed, if I'd appeared more stable, would they have let...

No, she knew they wouldn't. And it was too late to change anything now.

If prayer could have saved him, Kelsa's would had done the job.

Dinner lasted far too long.

Her mother put Joby to bed, reading aloud to him as she'd once read to Kelsa. It made Kelsa's heart ache, despite everything.

She was letting her mother down. But her mother had let her father down too, so life was tough all over, wasn't it?

Eventually her brother went to sleep. Not long after that her mother went to bed, exhausted by the stresses of the day despite her nap.

Kelsa lay in her own bed, waiting as the distant hum of traffic tapered off, as the breeze through her open window began to cool. She'd planned to wait, dramatically, till midnight. But by eleven fifteen she was certain her mother was sleeping, and if anyone else saw her it wouldn't matter. She'd gone on so many late-night walks with her father, eluding the heat of Utah's summer days, that even if the neighborhood patrol spotted her they'd only wave.

She dressed in dark jeans and a plain cotton stretchie—tan, not suspicious burglar-black. Then she reached up to the top shelf of her closet, feeling behind her winter clothes till her fingers located the thick plastic bag that held her father's ashes.

They were heavy. So much heavier than the flour she'd substituted for them in the granite urn, that she'd raided her father's tackle box and thrown in half a dozen weights to make up the difference. The ashes were a different color as well, grayish, so she'd gone up to the attic and swept up a pan of dust to mix into the top layer of flour. It was still too white, but her mother never opened the urn to look, and Kelsa didn't think anyone else would either.

Her father might have. He'd had a scientist's curiosity about most things, and he'd been too logical to care how he was buried.

Kelsa cared.

She put the plastic bag into her day pack, and in case she was stopped by some patroller who didn't know her, she folded a light jacket over the top. Water, because her father had insisted she never set out on any hike without it, and rain gear too, no matter what the weather report said. In case her mother woke up and checked on her, Kelsa left a message on the house com board saying that she couldn't sleep and had gone for a walk. Her personal ID card would identify her to the house security system, so she could lock the back door and leave the system on behind her. Kelsa might be angry with her mother, but she wasn't about to take chances with her family's safety—not even in a quiet neighborhood like hers.

The night air was rich with the smell of petunias, and the moonlight was so bright she could almost see their colors. Kelsa's house backed onto an urban greenbelt, with a rubbercrete path running down it. Their fence was so low she simply swung her legs over it. The Stattlers' fence, five houses down, was almost as low, but pulses of red light flashed along its base, prepared to offer a discouraging shock to wayward rabbits—and if Kelsa shook the fence on the way over she might get shocked as well. The rabbits eventually tunneled under the barrier and ate Mr. Stattler's lettuce anyway, but at least, he said, they had to work for it.

In the end Kelsa climbed into a neighbor's yard, up into an old fruit tree, and then leaped over the Stattlers' fence. The Stattlers' trees would let her depart the same way, but for now ... she'd remembered correctly; the tool shed wasn't locked.

It was so dark inside that Kelsa couldn't see a thing, and she knew the cluttered tools could make an incredible racket. She frowned, and after a few seconds managed to focus her eyes in the way that brought up her night vision, her tense shoulders relaxing as the stacked tools, boxes, and sacks emerged slowly into sight.

She'd had to get her vision corrected in second grade. The Reformed Church felt the same about mechanical vision enhancements as they did about unnecessary drugs, but her mother was moderate enough not to argue when Kelsa's father said that as long as they were messing with her eyes she might as well get the standard package.

She used the enhancements so seldom that she sometimes had trouble bringing them up, and even with her ability to see what she was doing, one of the shovels clanked against a laser trimmer. It wasn't loud enough to wake anyone, and Kelsa finally extracted the posthole digger. Its cylindrical blades were attached to a shaft over four feet long, with a plain wooden bar crossing the top. Wood and steel—the old-fashioned tool felt right to her. You should have to dig to make a grave, metal carving the earth. She hoped she'd raise a sweat, that her hands would blister, her muscles ache.

She tossed the awkward tool over the fence and climbed out of the Stattlers' yard. She didn't see any patrollers on the familiar walk down the greenbelt, down two streets, while moving in and out of the street lamps' coppery glow. She did swing wide around the traffic lights. Their cameras generally came on only if someone ran the light, but the police could set them to continuous wide scan at will, and you never knew.

The quiet was soothing. Kelsa was almost sorry when she reached the willow-lined creek that flowed through this part of Springville, a tiny strip of brush and weeds in the midst of the urban world. If you got off the rubbercrete pathway, you could see the tracks of magpies, cottontail rabbits, coyotes, and even deer in the mud of the meandering streambed.

It was her father who had taken her off the path, who'd taught her to identify both tracks and scat. This scrap of undeveloped land wasn't the vast, open wilderness he'd loved, but it was their favorite city hike—as close to rightness as Kelsa could get.

She walked for twenty minutes, crossed the footbridge, and then cut off the pavement onto a dirt trail the local kids, and possibly coyotes and deer, had beaten upstream to the place where the queen cottonwood loomed over a shallow bend.

Leaves rustled a welcome. Kelsa dropped her pack and pressed her palms together as if in prayer, then swept them up into a wide circle that ended with her hands folded at her waist. She bowed, finishing the whimsical homage to trees her father had taught her.

Greetings, your majesty.

Kelsa had always had a sense of the presence that lived in trees. Not aware, exactly, but old and patient and very alive. The bioplague that had wiped out so much of the South American rain forests hadn't even begun to come this far north. Its first traces were only now appearing in Mexico, and reporters on the holovid, and in the online papers and magazines, were certain it wouldn't spread outside the tropics. Of course, five years ago they'd been certain it would never spread out of the small corner of the Amazon where it had been released. Certain that even the trees there would fight it off eventually.

The scientists who published in scholarly journals, which her father had allowed her to read despite her mother's protests, were a lot more worried. Her father had gone to the Amazon to study the plague himself, as soon as the infected zone had been declared safe for humans. Sometimes Kelsa felt that his cancer, diagnosed over a year later, was an extension of the bioplague—as if he'd caught it from the trees.

But that was impossible, and her mind knew it. It was her heart she couldn't convince.

She set the point of the posthole digger against the earth and turned it. She'd never used this tool before, but it was easy to master. The dry clay near the roots was hard going, but about four inches down it grew damp and began to soften. Soon every few twists of the handle allowed her to lift out a scoop of earth, which she shook onto the growing pile.

Eventually, the handles brushed the ground. Kelsa emptied the last scoop, laid the digger aside, and reached into the hole. Cold dirt grated against her arm, but her stretching fingers couldn't find the bottom. It was deep enough. And so much better, truer, than the manicured grass and lifeless stone of the cemetery. This place, where foxes and raccoons still left their tracks, where the remains of his body might lend a bit of strength to the towering ancient whose leaves whispered in the moonlight—this was what her father would have wanted.

She hadn't been able to let him die the way he wanted to, but at least she could bury him that way.

Trying not to think, because if she started to think she'd start crying—again—Kelsa pulled out the plastic bag and ran the slider down the seal. The ashes thumped into the bottom of the hole. She felt odd about throwing the bag in the trash with traces of ash still clinging to it, so Kelsa went down to the stream and captured some water in the bag, which she then poured into the hole as well.

Here lies Johnny Phillipini, she said defiantly, who took back his great-to-the-fifth-great-grandfather's name when he was in college, even if he never did get around to changing it legally.

His wife had preferred Phillips, despite the awkwardness of Dad's colleagues and students asking for Professor Phillipini when they called the house.

He'd been a good teacher. A good husband. Such a good father.

There was nothing more to say and she was crying. Again. She should be used to it by now.

Kelsa dropped to her knees and pushed dirt back into the narrow hole, the muddy clay cold and soft on her bare palms. She hadn't worked long enough to raise blisters, but she could feel it in her muscles, in her hands—the simple reality of a grave in the earth.

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. All part of the cycle, her father would have said.

After she'd patted down the last of the dirt Kelsa wiped her hands on her jeans, dug a tissue out of her pocket, and blew her nose. She rose to her feet. The tree's quiet spirit, the rustling darkness, comforted her more than any human presence, soothing the raw pain. But nothing could fill the aching emptiness left by her father's absence. There was one more thing to say.

Goodbye, Dad.

She was reaching for the posthole digger, turning to go, when a man stepped out of the shadow of the tree trunk, almost as if he'd stepped out of the tree itself.

Kelsa started back, stumbling, almost falling. The man—no, boy, for he looked only a few years older than she was—moved forward into the moonlight.

His face was round, but with high cheekbones, and his straight black hair was perfect for the asymmetric wedges of his fashionable haircut. He wore jeans and gel-soles, like Kelsa did, but his round-collared shirt had buttons like a dress shirt, though the sleeves were fuller and the cut was wrong.

He was one of the best-looking guys Kelsa had seen outside of a fashion ad, and his cocky smile told her he knew it.

Relax, he said. I think you'll do. I've been looking for you for a long time. I wouldn't dream of doing you harm.

Kelsa picked up the posthole digger. I don't know who you are or what you're doing here, and I don't care. I want you to leave. Now.

His smile never wavered. But I've only just found you. I can't let you go yet. Besides—

He stepped forward so quickly she had no chance to back away, and he brushed the ball of his thumb over the flat spot between her eyebrows. He stepped back just as quickly, at the same time she did, and raised his thumb to his lips. Yes, you'll do. So I can't afford to lose you. Sorry, he added with another charming smile. But there it is.

Kelsa raised the posthole digger, prepared to swing it if he took another step. Look, mister, I don't know where you come from... His faint drawl didn't sound quite like any accent she'd heard before, and his skin had a swarthy cast. ...but Utah takes statutory rape seriously. So back off and get out of here, or I'll start screaming.

The creek might feel like a slice of wilderness, but there were houses only a few hundred yards away and the night was quiet. If she screamed, someone would wake up and report it. For all his creepy weirdness, she didn't feel like he was hitting on her. But if it wasn't that, what was he doing? She didn't lower the digger, even when his smile faded.

I'm not trying to ... What's the phrase? Hook up? The amusement in his voice was clear. Or in a way I am, though not for the purposes you think. I want to ... recruit you? Yes, that's the right way to put it.

A pimp's even worse than a pervert, Kelsa told him, though she didn't think he was a pimp, either. His English was fluent, but something about the phrasing didn't sound right. Maybe this was all some sort of linguistic misunderstanding.

You have a very dirty mind, he said. "Not that I object to that. It's the fact that you don't believe in magic that's going

Reviews for Trickster's Girl

[readingbeader · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Kelsa, distraught from the death of her father, is incredulous when Raven, a shape shifting boy, shows up and tries to talk her into a quest to save the earth. She thinks she is hallucinating due to grief. But the opportunity to take a break from her mom, and mourn her father in her own way is too much to resist, so she agrees and sets off on a quest that digs her deeper into trouble with every road she takes on her motorbike.

I am guessing Trickster’s Girl is the first in a series, because the quest is not over at the end of the book, but Kelsa’s part in it seems to be. I didn’t like the end. Kelsa had grown and learned to accept her father’s death, dealing with her grieving fairly well, but she didn’t finish what she started—which is something she and her father always did. I’d invested in her and wanted to see the completion of the quest. The ending felt rough, as if the author had hit a page limit or deadline and needed to finish for publication. I wanted to be invested with Raven’s character, but Ms. Bell made sure that I remembered he isn’t human, with comments from him to reinforce that notion. If the afterword is to provide sympathy for Raven and make me want to know more about him—it doesn’t.

This novel is appropriate for middle school readers with its adventure and no real romance between Kelsa and Raven. It’s a bit heavy handed on the “stupid humans destroying the planet” message. I would have liked to have seen an addendum explaining some of the Native American mythology.

[gmkieran-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Doesn't have the depth of de Lint, but the characters are fun and interesting and the story is good.

[leftik_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

All the trees are dying and no one can find a cure for the plague affecting them. No one, it seems, except Raven - the mysterious boy who promises magic and world-wide cures to a grieving Kelsa. Kelsa, however, just wants to be left alone. She knows her father would have done anything to save the dying trees, though, so she hesitatingly agrees to help Raven on his quest - even though she doesn't trust him.

On the whole, I enjoyed Trickster's Girl. The beginning was a little shaky, but the writing and plot evened out as the book continued. Bell also combined ancient mythologies with a near-future setting, which worked better in some places than others. At the beginning it was completely jarring, but by the end it evened out.

[a_reader_of_fictions · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Trickster's Girl is not like the average young adult fantasy. For one thing, there's no romance. The whole book is very focused on the quest and on saving the environment. Although Raven is hot, he is demonstrably not human.

Similarly, Kelsa does not constantly rely on him to save her. She is no Bella Swan, constantly tripping and needing to be carried. He saves her sometimes, but there are even more times where she saves herself or she saves him. I really loved that aspect of Trickster's Girl. Kelsa doesn't kick ass; she's a normal girl, but she can take care of herself. She makes a lot of the big decisions and reacts maturely to most of the situations in which she finds herself. Kelsa is, despite the running away from home to troop around a couple countries with a supernatural guy she barely knows, a fairly good role model.

The best part for me was the view into the future Bell has created here. The book is set a minimum of 85 years in the future, as Kelsa sees graffiti from 2094. America is, unsurprisingly, a bit different. There are some cool new technologies, like cars that hover a little bit off the ground and electric vehicles. On the converse side, there are numerous references to the damage to the environment done by humans, such as the bioplague wiping out the rainforest in South America. One really cool aspect is the description of how the new swear words developed, so watch for that. Also some dystopian elements, which I loved of course!

The quest itself is a neat idea, what with the environmental impact and all of that. Still, the way she healed the ley line was so incredibly lame. She would toss a pinch of dust and recite an incantation/ode to some element of nature: glaciers, trees, animals, etc. This does pay homage to the medicine man and perhaps resemble an Indian ritual of some sort (I confess that I do not know), but, either way, the incantations are super stupid. They just don't seem earth-changing.

The writing of the book was quite good, except for the aforementioned incantations and Bell's repetitiveness with regards to Kelsa's opinions of Raven. A sequel is in the works, currently titled Traitor's Son, for which I will be on the lookout.

[danielle4montgomery · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In this futuristic book, Kelsa, with the help of Raven, must heal the ley lines that run through the different dimensions of the world while running from super naturals and a biker gang who are out to kill them both. Humans have slowly destroyed the world over time, in effect hurting the ley line magic. And because humans were the ones that harmed this magic, humans must also be the ones to fix it and so Raven finds Kelsa, a human girl who is open to the magic of the ley lines. Kelsa takes up the mantle of Atahalne's quest, the original Native American who started healing the ley lines and journeys from her home in the U.S. through the Canadian border in order to reach more ley lines and help heal the world.

[bookspot · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

It's a century after 9/11 and the world--or at the least the US--is now a mix of Big Brother with everything more secure and a science-y Jetsons with vehicles that 'fly.' People might have found a way to prevent murders and track everyone's whereabouts, but they haven't found a way to heal the environmental troubles. In this new, sophisticated, advanced world, magic might be the only answer.Yes, magic.Kelsa's a teenager who understands the security of her world, but also that nothing can protect her from death. Her father has just died from cancer--a rising epidemic in society. It's just after his funeral when she's approached by an odd boy. He claims that the planet is dying--by human's doing--and that only magic, that he needs Kelsa's help with can save it.Kelsa will have to travel far, far out of her comfort zone both to believe him and help him.I went in to reading Trickster's Girl thinking it was going to be something other than what it was. I think I thought it was going to be more about the future, more of a dystopian novel where magic was a part of it. In a way, I suppose, that's what it was, but it also was not.I actually found myself thinking quite a bit of the Buffy episode 'Pangs' while reading this (if anyone knows it, it's in Season Four, the one on Thanksgiving). **slight spoiler** There were shapeshifters in the book and there's a scene like that in the episode, too ;) The talk in the book of all the harm human's had caused the Earth reminded me of Willow's arguments in that episode, too. **end slight spoilers**The beginning of the book was rather interesting, setting up some of the way the world worked in 2098 and how it was different from 2010 and how it was not. I also enjoyed meeting Kelsa and seeing how she was morning the loss of her father. (Not because it's enjoyable, but because it was well done and you also learned more about the society while learning about her grief.)In the middle, things seemed to drag on for a little while. I understood what the characters were doing and why they were doing but it seemed to take a while for them to get from event from event. It also seemed like there was always something going wrong or side trips but not in a way that made things particularly interesting, but just for something else to do.I was looking for more . . . ooomph with a lot of the book.The ending was more enjoyable, again, than the middle and, as I believe this is a series--or at least has a sequel--I will read the next book, or at least give it a try, but I don't think I'll buy it.**spoilers** This book is likely worth reading if only for the fact that it has shapeshifting Indian/Native American spirits in it. And things about ley lines and 'healing' the Earth after we humans have damaged it. I don't believe I've heard about or read any other books that have the same plot points. I think it could have been a stronger book, but it was unique and contained interesting and original (to YA fiction) ideas. **end spoilers**(read thanks to NetGalley & the publisher)

[sedelia_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I am loving all these mythological-based books now coming out and this one is no different. I love how Bell ties together all the different mythologies to incorporate it into the story she's made. It really works. The novel did have a few problems for me that I will go into later, but first let's talk about the good stuff.Awesome thing #1: Subtlety. This is a futuristic world, but Bell doesn't make it so futuristic that I can't recognize it. Everything is similar but slightly off, which is exactly how I think the future will be. For example, there are hover vehicles, but regular vehicles still exist. People have "com pods" which I envision as some sort of really fancy iPhone. And some high school teachers seem to teach through computers, but it was still recognizably school. Some may argue that due to the rapid pace of technological advancements, it should have been more otherworldly, which I completely get; however, I really liked how I could recognize the old world in the new. Very well done.Awesome thing #2: Native American mythology. I feel like this subject doesn't get written about a lot and it is SO interesting. Instead, many focus on Greek and Irish mythology (probably because that's what we mostly hear about in school). I liked the different flavor this mythology brought to the story, and I liked how it tied together with other mythologies. It especially works for the subject matter (healing the "leys," which are, essentially, a part of nature).Awesome thing #3: It's a small thing, but I really liked how the evolution of the curse words was explained. I could totally see this happening in real life. Related to Awesome thing #1, it was similar enough that I recognized it, but just evolved enough to make it seem strange. Very cool.Now for the problems.Problem #1: Conflict. Using her "human magic" (as it's called) seemed to be really easy for Kelsa. And the incantations come rather easily to her. I know that the book says it takes her a little while to come up with the words, but I want to see the struggle. Especially since she's supposed to be conflicted about the existence of magic -- she is in denial, but then she just sits down and reaches out to the earth to heal it? Seems like a huge jump between mind frames. Conflict problems arose throughout the entire novel, I think. It was the biggest problem for me. I thought that things were fairly easy on Kelsa (until the end, of course), which I wasn't very happy with.Problem #2: Development. Sometime between the beginning and middle of the novel, Kelsa got to become rather comfortable with Raven and his quirks. She would say things like "typical" when he did something, when I didn't find it typical at all. I really wished that there was more description of him and of the relationship they built so I could connect to him as well as Kelsa. This may have been a conscious choice on the part of the author since Raven is a spirit (or whatever you want to call him -- not human, anyway), and is therefore unrelatable. So I'm just going to list this as a personal preference.However, I did think it was a good, fast read. I would recommend giving it a try.

[roses7184_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I'm sad to say that I really didn't connect with this book as much as I would have liked to. There were things about Trickster's Girl that I really liked, and then other things that took away from the reading experience for me. By the time that I reached the ending, I had to war with myself over how I truly felt. What it came down to is simply that I liked this book. Liked it enough to finish it. Liked it yes. Loved it? No. I have to give credit to Hilari Bell for choosing such a fabulous backdrop for her story. As Kelsa travels with Raven as her companion, they drive through some stunning scenery. I really enjoyed how a lot of monuments and state parks are mentioned. Anyone who has ever visited these will automatically be able to transport themselves into that part of the story with Kelsa. Also, there is an underlying current here about taking care of our environment. Kelsa's mission is to repair something that we, as humans, have torn asunder with our careless nature. The entire book discusses the natural beauty of the planet, while at the same time showing how we need to preserve it. The one downside to providing so many beauteous scenes in this story is that Kelsa and Raven spend much of the book traveling. Therefore the book unfortunately moves rather slowly, especially at the beginning. Towards the middle there are chase scenes and things pick up a bit, but I was never really invested in the movement of the story. I liked Kelsa, and I thought Raven was funny, but their journey just didn't stick with me. I wanted to believe in them, I wanted to root for them to succeed, but it seemed like I just couldn't get a foothold into their world. As soon as my interest was peaked, they'd be off traveling again and the book would slow down. Despite the plot movement though, I would like to praise Hilari Bell for her seamless incorporation of a mix of magic, nature and Native American mythology. There was always just enough magic to make things interesting, but also a focus on the nature that surrounded that magic. A lot of what Raven mentions in the book ties into the beliefs that Native Americans held about the world around them. That nature itself is magic, we only have to look closely and learn to tap into it. I was quite happy with how that was shown to the reader. Overall, as I mentioned above, I did like this book. I'm just sad that I didn't connect with it as much as I would have liked to. There are some very impressive elements wound up into Trickster's Girl however, and I do suggest that you give it a read. Pick it up from your local library, borrow a friend's copy, and take yourself on a journey.

[bookwormygirl · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I really liked the premise of this book - it's a dystopian with paranormal elements - which I found very unique and what actually seduced me into wanting to read it. But sadly I had a hard time getting into the story. For me, it started off really slow and I kept having a hard time picking it back up if I needed to stop reading for whatever reason. While I did find Kelsa and Raven's journey to be interesting as well as learning about why the Earth is slowly dying, I still had a hard time connecting with the characters. Some of the situations and reactions just didn't feel credible or relateable enough for me to actually feel any type of connection with them. The interaction between Kelsa and Raven felt forced and while I do enjoy books where the main protagonists are not involved romantically, the lack of romance left the friendship feeling stiff. I also had a hard time with the authors take on global warming and going green. While I'm all for going green and saving the planet, I think her message was a bit repetitive, even preachy at times. I always finish a book no matter how much I have to struggle through it, but sadly, I really had to put effort into finishing this one. I've read various other reviews to see how other fellow bloggers/readers are feeling about Trickster's Girl and I see a lot of mixed reviews. So my final word would be enter at your own risk... you might just be one of the readers who loves it.

[booksforcompany · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I have so much to say about this book, l have a whole list of notes written that l started to write after l had read the first chapter. Before l start my review l have to say l didn't expect much from this book, the cover doesn't grab me at all BUT this book was a nice surprise. Even if l didn't always enjoy the concept of it, its a thought out book!Oh and also before l start, just to get it out the way, l was often annoyed but the constant exclamations being used. Yes l use them lots but in a story they seem totally out of place being used so much.I did warn you, l have a lot to say about it.~I haven't read a book in awhile that l have had a strong love and hate relationship with it and not known which one l side with the most.First and foremost l should let you know this book is set ahead of time, around 2086 l think it said somewhere in the book. I think this is always daring because you need try to guess how advanced we are going to be by then. I think Hilari got it right most of the time and l loved nearly all of the things which she added to the world which Kelsa lives in. ~Now for my thoughts. This book actually started off as a great surprise as l was enjoying it a lot, l liked how the characters were introduced and Raven had great character at the beginning and l really warmed to him. Kelsa on the other hand l felt myself getting annoyed at her, she is rather mean to her mother and as l am very close to my mother l didn't get how she could be like that. A bit spoilt she came across in a few chapters.Anyway at least they had their personality's at the beginning because suddenly as the story went on the l felt the two characters lost their personality and become flat. This may have been because Hilari seemed to focus so much on the plot that the building of their characters seemed abandoned. Stuff was being repeated as well as finding myself totally lost in a few sections and not understanding what was happening at all.~The plot itself is the main thing which l am struggling on deciding if l loved it or hated it. It's confusing, interesting, frustrating, repetitive .. as you can see, its a lot of things! I truly don't know, l wasn't bored by the plot and its certainly a unique concept which Hilari had obviously thought into but l felt in some ways it was just too .. strange. Sometimes l connected with it and other times l didn't and its the times when l didn't connect with it when l am thinking "Please make Raven and Kelsa a bit complex!'. I honestly still don't know where l stand, l actually feel confused!~I guess at the end of the day my final verdict comes down to if l will read the next in the series. Yes. Just because l want to find out what happens as l am a nosey person but l won't be a rush to read the next one. Being honest though l would probably be satisfied with reading someone's review which tells me what happens next.

[mrsderaps · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

It's almost 100 years from today. Kelsa, the main character, has just lost her father. He was her idol and her best friend. He cared deeply about the environment, and Kelsa mother's doesn't understand just how deeply his death has impacted her daughter. While trying to commune with nature and spread her father's ashes in places he felt most at home, Kelsa meets a cunning, conniving, and shape-shifting trickster. His name is Raven and he needs Kelsa's help to accomplish his mission: Save the planet from certain death.In this futuristic world, humans and the supernatural have basically destroyed the environment. The ways that humans have impacted the earth are obvious: more of the pollution and global warming that is already happening. But, there are supernatural forces at work in this novel as well. Not all creatures want to save the earth; some work against Raven and Kelsa in their mission.This book combines a couple of genres. It's like a dystopia in that the government is controlling and the environment has been completely wrecked because of human consumption. And, there is a paranormal element to this book. Native American mythology and underworld characters abound.As a fan of both genres, I wish that I loved this book more than I did. I have read other book reviews (and listened to a rave review from my local bookseller), so I know that opinions are mixed where this book is concerned. Some people are loving it and others are not so much in favor of this new series. (Because there will be more...)I was entertained when I was able to get into the story. Every time I had to put it down, though, it was not easy to get back into. I did enjoy Kelsa and thought that she was a strong female lead. I also love the idea of mixing the dystopian and paranormal genres. This attempt lacked a little in its finesse at merging the two, but I look forward to reading other books where authors try this merge.

[lll808 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Trickster's Girl is an easy read but I'm afraid it's more simple then I prefer but suitable for the age demographic.The plot is carefully put together. The conflict with the main character, Kelsa, was easily felt and written to reach its reader. Most notable, Kelsa's character possesses admirable qualities. Her determination to complete what she's started is my most favorite attribute. A plight to save humankind with just a few hundred dollars to her name and a lying shapeshifter as a partner is a brilliant premise but overall I there was something missing. The journey Kelsa and Raven set out on from her home in Utah to Alaska is quite the excitement for a teenage girl but she holds her own well. The world in which this plot takes place is interesting. There are Levcars that hoover above ground, cameras that survey public areas, com boards, plastic guns, DNA locks, DNA coded guns but it's not total sci-fi just advanced. The year is 2093/94. There is magic and there is technology. After all the waste that has occurred in the human world both it and the magic world (co-existing with Earth) is in trouble. Raven sets out to find a human who can help heal the magic leys that enables life on Earth and in the Magic world. That is when Raven finds Kelsa.Mostly, Trickster's Girl is a fair read. My curiosity had me reading on wondering what's going to happen next but I think it was the ending that had me stumped. It was a bit abrupt. The epilogue was even more confusing. I don't wish to give anything away but it doesn't feel like the plot is complete. Only now, I am looking up information on the Author's site. It seems that this book is a duet. There will be two in the series or better worded a duet. So now I am thinking the ending must be like a "to be continued..." which would explained but I felt the ending was abrupt. It's just a guess upon my opinion from the ending though. All in all, this book would be great for the intended audience of 12+. Will I read book 2 in this duet? Yes, I am thinking I will. There is enough to the plot to have me curious despite its abrupt ending. Plus, the idea of a duet is new to me and that in itself is interesting.

[stephxsu · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Unfortunately I did not get very far into this before I put it down. I think the concept is interesting, and Bell's writing is not bad, per se: technically and stylistically, it flows well and reads rhythmically, which is to say that we readers are not tripped up by the narration. However, the book lacked what I guess I'd have to call a human connection. The characters didn't seem to act the way people do: if a strange guy was basically stalking ME, I'd probably mention it to an adult pretty soon down the line, instead of just shrugging it off and not being thisclose to freaking out the next time he shows up. Kelsa and Raven's conversations felt stiff and unconvincing: during the little I managed to stomach of this book, most of their conversation seemed to go something along the lines of, "So, you ready to believe in magic?" "Who are you and why are you stalking me?" "Okay, I guess not, I'll come back when you're ready." Aaaand repeat. So on, ad nauseum. The characters felt like puppets being acted out, inside of actual people with natural, reasonable reactions. A fascinating concept is not enough to overcome a lack of humanity in books for me, and that's when I knew I had to put it down.

[raboyer · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Tame Trickster* I received this book via Star Book ToursThis book gets 2 gnomes and a gnome hat out of five gnomes for having an innovative concept with looking at Native American mythology but doesn't explore the mythology as much as it could have. One fun aspect of the book involves the curse words of the future. These curse words made me feel like a real trendsetter, like carp, I say carp all the time because it tended to get me in less trouble then saying the original word.The story starts very slowly. It takes place in the future but I think it might have had an even stronger message if it had been set in the present. This would work because people are more pro-environmental now and security it tighter, it's interesting to read about this future but there could have been more to it.The reader first meets Kelsa at her father's funeral. She was much closer to her father than her mother, she doesn't have the best relationship with her mother. Raven, the trickster god, finds her as she's burying her father's ashes.In this future time there's a tree plague that was released by terrorists that is killing all the trees. This isn't the only problem since their have been bad environmental practices before this but the tree plague is kind of the last straw. Apparently all these environmental problems are weakening or continuing to weaken the ley lines of the world, these lines are where magic comes from, so they are destroying this world and the world where Raven comes from. Raven believes that only a human can fix the damage.It takes Raven some time to convince Kelsa that she's the person that can heal the Earth through fixing fixing different ley lines at various nexuses of power. She is suspicious of Raven a lot and Raven doesn't really see humans as being very capable.The story really picks up and grabs for your attention after Kelsa finds out that the enemies Raven talks about that don't want them to succeed are real. Things get more enjoyable and fun to read once they are on the run. I was kind of uncomfortable at one part where she decides to make herself look completely different by essentially putting on blackface in the form of really dark concealer.I might have given this book a 3 gnomes out of 5 if it weren't for the ending. It has the kind of ending where I was questioning why exactly things had to happen this way. In the end the reader is left with no idea what's going to occur next and not a clue to who the main characters will be.Overall I expected more magic to be involved but everything is more natural then magical except for the whole shapeshifting part. Also was some humor throughout though no romance even though it is kind of implied by the cover and title of the book.

[kmartin802_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

It is 2093, Kelsa's father has died of cancer and she is reeling. When she is secretly burying his ashes, a strange boy appears - beautiful but strange. He asks her if she believes in magic. He has a tough time convincing her. Once he does he enlists her on a quest to help heal the planet. They flee north from Utah to the Yukon territory trying to heal the ley lines. He is Raven and he and she are both being pursued by his enemies who are willing to let the humans die because of the damage they have done to the Earth. This was an exciting adventure tale and a story about being to come to terms with grief. I look forward to the sequel (even though this doesn't end on a cliffhanger.)

[comacalm_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

15 year old Kelsa's father has just died. Feeling unloved and unwanted by her Mother she sees an opportunity to escape when she meets the mysterious Raven, who wants to use her to help heal the leys in the world that humans have destroyed. Somewhere near the year 3000, Kelsa and Raven start the epic journey form Utah to Alaska. But not everyone wants them to succeed in their quest...Although this is classed as a Sci-Fi novel I would recommend it lovers of Fantasy/Adventure due to there being more Fantasy elements in the story than Sci-Fi. There is futuristic elements but nothing particularly heavy – unless a futuristic coffee machine is too much for you. It also reads like a fantasy novel.Kelsa and Raven fight like an old married couple which is quite hilarious. There's plenty of sarcastic comments in here!I really enjoyed this story, especially the suspenseful moments but... I was disappointed with the ending. I felt it was rather rushed and not the ending I was hoping for. For instance, as you'd expect, Kelsa and Raven were flirting with each other all the way through and I was waiting for them to get their act together and at least kiss. There was barely a cuddle! That was very disappointing, especially as that's what you'd expect from a YA novel.(Received this free from NetGalley to review)

[bibliotropic · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

If there's any problem to be found in throwing the reader into a world that's very similar and yet slightly different to this one, it's that sometimes the authors writes as though the reader is going to know all those subtle differences and won't be lost when making references to customs or technology that doesn't exist here. That was my thought when I first started reading Trickster's Girl, and though that sentiment was a mild one, it was still present in the back of my mind.Then we get to meet Raven, and the story really takes off.In following Kelsa's adventures of running away from home and trying to save the planet, we get to be wrapped up in a story that's much bigger than the piece that we're being shown in the novel. The planet is dying because humans messed up in monumental ways, and unfortunately the slow-fix solution of trying to be more eco-conscious just won't cut it anymore. Things have to start healing right away, and fast, or else things will start going to pot.The environmental message was presented a bit heavy-handedly sometimes, but since it's a message I can get behind, I didn't mind that too much. For some readers, though, the kind who sit on the fence regarding environmental activism or those who don't think much about it one way or the other, might find some of Raven's lectures about it rather tiresome.I can easily see why some people wouldn't like the ending to the book, or think that it was a poorly done way of setting things up for a sequel. I disagree. From the beginning it was established that this mission is something that Kelsa can't do alone, that must be done by people all over the world, and what we see at the end isn't so much a set-up for another part of the series or a cop-out ending because the author couldn't think of how to have the planet be healed convincingly. No, what we see is merely Kelsa's part in the mission come to an end. The torch has been passed on, and now it's time for somebody else to do what she bravely admitted she could not. It was actually refreshing to see a book that had an open ending and yet still tied up all the loose ends that it could.(Though from what I hear, there will be another book attached to this one. That doesn't diminish what I said above, though.)This is a definite recommend to YA fantasy/sci-fi fans, and to those who enjoy a good normal-person-saves-the-world tale.Hilari Bell has a lot going for her as an author, and really knows how to weave a story with the right amount of little details that make the world so believable. I can't wait to see what she'll write next!