Title: Acceleration
Author: Graham McNamee

Acceleration. When some people hear the word acceleration, they think of speeding up in a car, but Graham Namee's novel provides another definition that probably no one has considered before. During the summer, Duncan gets a job working in the Toronto Transit Lost and Found. At work, he discovers a journal of a madman, and the journal lists past crimes the madman has committed as well as future crimes that the madman is planning. Now, Duncan and his friends have to stop the madman before anyone gets hurt.

I liked the author's use of suspense because it makes me want to continue reading to find out what happens. I want to find out the identity of the madman and if the madman gets caught. As Duncan and his now ex-girlfriend, Kim, are playing basketball, Kim tells Duncan, "The world's out there, Duncan. The good, the bad, and the plain old ugly. I can't go around being afraid all the time … You've locked yourself up in some dark little prison cell. And you want me to join you. But I can't live like that" (55). That's one of my favorite lines in the book because I like the overall message. Kim is trying to point out that she wants to be brave – not scared – and face the good and the bad that's in our world. She goes on to point out that Duncan is living in a world where he's safe, but she doesn't want to live like that. It's so true because our world doesn't just have good things and people; our world also has the bad things and people as well. I think we need to be brave and to be afraid of getting hurt because we'll get hurt sooner or later. Also, Kim's right about Duncan locking himself in "some dark little prison cell" and how she doesn't want to live like that. I think Duncan doesn't want to experience pain. She's trying to point out that we will always encounter pain. Kim leaves a message on Duncan's home answering machine, and after Duncan listens to the message, he comments, "Maybe I could go. We can still talk. It's not so hard, Kim says. But it is. Some people you can't be friends with, not when you've been something more" (144). I agree with what Duncan says because how can you be friends with your ex-girlfriend/ex-boyfriend? It only brings up more pain and guilt, and it's hard to talk to them when you're feeling those feelings.

There are four things that bothered me about this book. The first thing that bothered me is the sentences seemed choppy to me. I understand that the author wants teenagers to read Acceleration, but he's treating us [the readers] as idiots in a way. Most readers who read Acceleration speak English as their native language and can understand long, complex sentences. The second thing that bothered me is that I felt like the author gave us too much background information that we [as readers] don't need to know. For example, the author included information about Duncan's juvenile record and about his and his ex-girlfriend's relationship. We don't need to know that kind of information because it doesn't help move the plot along; the information isn't useful at all. Thirdly, I don't like the narrator because he seems like he wants to save everybody. That's bothersome because in reality, you can't save everybody. It's realistically impossible. The last thing is that this book doesn't have a lot of sensory details. The author is good with giving us visual descriptions, but there are few sensory details.

Rating: 4 out of 5