No one likes to be second-best. We all have that one person who constantly does better at whatever we're trying to do. There's always that one kid who wins all the awards, who always succeeds at everything while the rest of us are left to feel like no one notices us. This is the sentiment that drives a group of kids to form "The Shadow Club," a club of kids who feel "second-best" to someone else. It starts off as something innocent, an outlet for them all to share their feelings. But quickly, the Shadow Club starts to go too far ... The members start playing practical jokes on their rivals. And when unplanned and dangerous pranks start happening and no one in the Shadow Club admits to them, they become convinced that someone knows their secret and is trying to frame them.If you know me, you know that I love Neal Shusterman. I worship the ground he walks on. He has written some of the best YA books out there (in my opinion), including Unwind, Bruiser, and the Skinjacker Trilogy: Everlost; Everwild; Everfound. His books always have intriguing and unique premises, and he always fleshes out his ideas very well.That said, I felt a bit underwhelmed by The Shadow Club. Maybe it was too middle-grade for my taste, and also it's about ten years old. So, I can definitely say that Neal Shusterman's writing has improved over time. But anyway, I liked it but I couldn't help but compare it to his more recent books and it just wasn't as good.I do like the premise. It's definitely something a lot of people can relate to. I mean, I really relate to it. For example, I'm a writer ... and I've always had that kind of feeling like I'm "good but not good enough" and that as hard as I try there are always people my age who are better than me and succeed way more than I do ... and it's a very discouraging feeling. So, I understood where the characters' feelings of rejection were coming from and I sympathized with them to an extent.Unfortunately, my sympathy with them ended about there. A lot of the characters' actions in this book just came off as mean-spirited to me and it made it hard for me to like them. Not only that, but most of them were kind of cardboard-cutout characters with not much personality. It was like "second-most popular girl," "second-smartest girl," "second-best basketball player" or whatever, and all of these characters were pretty clichéd and I could barely even keep track of who was who because they were all pretty bland. And over all, the book just felt really short and underdeveloped. I mean, it was a simple plot and I guess there wasn't much to it. But it seemed a bit rushed and ultimately I didn't feel like I could really hold on to any of it. In conclusion, the book had a good premise––simple but easy to relate to. However, it fell flat for me in terms of pacing and character development.However, don't see this review as a judgment of Neal Shusterman's work as a whole. Really, his more recent books are genius and you should all go read them.
I'll admit it, I'm a little jealous. I've never been particularly good at writing stories about things that could've actually happened. The premise of this book, a bunch of ninth graders pulling pranks on their bullies until things get way out of control, could've actually happened. So I'm impressed. And unlike so many books about the real-life troubles of teens, this one didn't irk me the way that some of them do. Maybe that's because the moral wasn't so in your face as some of them tend to be. And the angst wasn't so much that I was distracted from the plot. I can forgive Susterman's over-use of the exclamation point! Not just in the quotes, but in the narration as well! I don't need a character, who just screamed his head off to then tell me that, now he's really angry! But like I said, I was willing to overlook it, mostly.If I were nine or ten, I think I would've been way into this book. At twenty-eight, I liked it well enough that I'd be happy to send a few hours reading another book of Susterman's. I'd say that's pretty good.
What do You think about The Shadow Club (2002)?
"I stood there like Darth Vader, breathing the power. The power of club leader. I had...in the palm of my hand and all I could do to him was crush him-like I would a soda can."So, I liked this book. It was really interesting to show how really good kids who are second best in at least one thing and at least one person who is better than them can turn to "dark evil" kids. kind of like the shooting in Connecticut in Dec. of 2012, the Dark knight rises movie premiere in Aurora, Colorado, Trolley square years ago in SLC (I was little at the time)etc. I think we need to recognize when our kids/friends or anyone we know who are struggling. Adults, Counselors, Church leaders, parents, family...I don't know if I'll read book 2, I'm debating it. But it's interesting to see what could happen when one thing that seems so harmless can end up bing not you or pranks or something goes way too far. but overall, it was pretty good. Slow for a little while but once the first pranks take place is where things start to really build up.
—Nichole
Reviewed by Me for TeensReadToo.comMeet the second-bests: a group of kids who, although they have one thing they're best at, still get beat daily by the "unbeatables." Although these kids are good kids, well-behaved, smart, athletic, interesting, their lives are being ruined by those who always seem to be one step ahead, stealing the limelight and rubbing it in until you just wish they'd never been born. Thus is the basis for THE SHADOW CLUB, a secret group of seven kids who decided to get back at those who make their lives miserable by playing harmless pranks on them--pranks that will embarass them before their admirers, and give the second-besters their just due. Except revenge, as revenge always seems to do, comes back to bite you in the butt. Pranks start getting out of control, even though they're not being comitted by the Shadow Club members. Someone's out to sabotage their club, and one of the "unbeatables" could wind up getting seriously hurt--even killed. As the Club seeks to get the biggest loser in school, Tyson McGaw, to confess to the pranks, the Shadow Club comes to realize that they might not be the all-around good kids that they thought they were. What started out as fun is turning into something darker, and no one seems to know how to make it stop. THE SHADOW CLUB is a great read by Neal Shusterman. Dealing with human nature, the fact that kids can traumatize each other more than anyone else can, and the fact that we all have anger inside of us is forefront in the story. A great read!
—Jennifer Wardrip
The Shadow Club by Neal Shusterman was a really good book. A group of kids get together and call them selves " The shadow club". They go up against the "unbeatable" witch are all the kids that are the best at something. The Shadow Club starts pulling pranks and they get way out of hand. The main character changed through out the book by his actions and feelings. One of the themes are Be careful what your actions are or things could get bad. I liked this book because all of the pranks. I also like all the chaos in the story too.
—Jordan Buckley
