"Good hands, Luke," Dad had said. "Special hands. Strong and sensitive. You can do anything you want with hands like these. So don't ever put them to bad use."
Luke has good hands. Everybody says so. Good for playing the piano -- just like his father did before he died. And good for climbing -- climbing trees, climbing toward the stars, in search of some peace away from family troubles.
Now Skin and his gang want Luke to do some climbing for them. They want him to climb into Mrs. Little's house to look for something to steal. They want him to prove he's a real part of the gang.
But nobody is ready for what Luke discovers when he does climb into the house. He encounters something so unexpected that it changes everything -- something that unlocks secrets and helps Luke find out exactly who he is and what it is that he's been searching for.
The only place he thinks he fits in is with local outcasts Daz, Speed and Skin. Totally ruled by the unstable Skin, all the boys follow Skin's every wish. All of this is just a way to "get through" for Luke, until one night when he is sent into Mrs. Little's house to look for something to steal. Once inside the dark, creepy house he follows the sound of a child's weeping voice and encounters a situation that totally changes his life.
As Luke becomes torn between helping the child and Mrs. Little, he also encounters the wrath of Skin and his gang. There is a great sense of tension as the story winds its way to the final scenes.
Some of the events toward the end of this book feel somewhat forced, but at the same time Tim Bowler is able to maintain a wonderful sense of magic through the characters. FIRMAMENT provides a wonderful coming-of-age story combined with an exciting edge of suspense.
--- Reviewed by Sally M. Tibbetts (stibbetts@maine207west.k12.il.us)
