Young-adult novel set in the Glebe and Toronto

Fractured,

by Gordon G. Bowman.

Review by Naomi Cabassu

Fractured is a first novel by Glebe resident Gordon Bowman and the first in a young-adult urban fantasy/sci-fi series called “Telepath.” The second book in the series is expected to be published this summer or fall.

Fractured follows a 14-year-old girl named Zoe who wakes up in an alley in Ottawa. She stumbles onto a main street and gets sent to the hospital because of injuries. Soon she wakes up and needs to run because there are three people who want her killed. She heads back to the alley. Zoe believes it can help her remember who she was before the accident. She needs to escape Ottawa to go to Toronto because her friend Ethan told her to. In Toronto, she meets Professor Chao to whom she tells everything that happened until then. He then explains everything she needs to know about her mental abilities which she discovered in Ottawa. Professor Chao tells her that she is a telepath and the people who attacked her are called the rogues. Professor Chao also mentions that he is a teacher at the Academy, which is a school for students who are telepaths like Zoe.

At the Academy. she befriends Professor Chao’s daughter Lin. Later we learn that the headmaster and the council are suspicious about Zoe because she could be a spy or an assassin. She doesn’t believe that because she thinks she is the same person as she was before the accident. She makes a deal with the headmaster to go to see the school psychologist to retrieve her memories. After Zoe’s first retrieval of memories, she has a dream about her childhood and tells it to Lin, her parents, professor Chao and Professor Yeoh. Later she tells it to the headmaster and her psychologist.

I enjoyed this book because it does not follow the Romeo-and-Juliet theme. You still know that Zoe and Ethan will end up together because that’s how young adult novels are. It’s also enjoyable because it is set in Canada and not in the United States like most English-language books are.

I did not like the flashbacks which were confusing; at the same time, it helps us understand Zoe’s past, which is only explained through Ethan’s memory.

I would recommend this book to pre-teens and young teens because it is an easy read for young adults. It is also very simple to understand because it is meant for 12- to14-year-olds. The storyline is better for a younger audience.

Naomi Cabassu is a Grade 12 student at Glebe Collegiate Institute who enjoys reading and is aiming to attend the Library and Information Technician program at Algonquin College.

Fractured, by Gordon G. Bowman. (Ottawa, Bowman Books, 2022) 298 pages. Available at Octopus Bookstore and other indie bookstores in Ottawa, on Amazon, as well as the at the Ottawa Public Library and Glebe schools. Also available at bowmanbooks.ca