Mercury Boys

June 15, 2021
An insecure teen girl becomes fascinated by daguerreotypes and time travel through dreams. When everyone learns about her mom's affair with a substitute teacher half her age, Saskia and her dad move from Arizona to Connecticut for a fresh start. Saskia is having trouble adjusting to her new reality and doesn't feel like she fits in at school; she's an outsider, mixed race, and not rich. A class assignment to study an early pioneer in photography and a subsequent visit to the university archive to see his original daguerreotype with new friend Lila results in an amazing discovery: Saskia can now visit the inventor in her dreams. In an effort to befriend the popular girls, Saskia shares her time travel secret and pressures Lila to help the rest of the group steal photos of their own, forming the Mercury Boys Club. Prasad explores power dynamics among teen girls through an interplay of various influences such as wealth, appearance, and race (Lila is Latinx, Saskia has a Black mom and White dad, and the other girls are White). Although the character development is not strong, depictions of the teens' dysfunctional family lives are woven throughout the story, making the appeal of the club and the girls' hysteria convincing. The speedy conclusion leaves a lot of unanswered questions, however, and readers will wonder what was actually true. An interesting premise with uneven execution. (daguerreotype images) (Science fiction. 13-18)

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August 1, 2021

Gr 9 Up-A secret society shifts from exciting to toxic in this dark tale with hints of magic. Saskia Brown has recently moved and is trying to figure out her place at her new school. When visiting her only friend Lila at her job in an archive, Saskia gets to see and touch some old items related to photography, including a daguerreotype and some liquid mercury. This has surprising consequences: Saskia can now visit and interact with the person from the daguerreotype, an inventor from the 1800s. But this only happens in her dreams. Saskia shares this strange experience with some potential new friends, and soon a small group of girls has formed a secret society with strict rules regarding their "forever boyfriends," the people from the daguerreotypes they've selected. As the teens become more invested in their visits and the society, rules that seemed innocuous become catalysts for dangerous punishments, and an idea that seemed magical and exciting will have lasting consequences. This story is layered and unique; the surface-level concepts of time travel and secret societies will draw readers in, but the jealousy and desire for revenge that fuel the secret society add depth and unexpected elements to the plot. Saskia is biracial (half white, half Black, of Ghanaian descent). The realities of racism are woven effortlessly into Saskia's present-day experiences and visits to the past. Although the ending feels a bit anticlimactic, the novel blends history, romance, friendship, and a touch of magic into a compelling story. VERDICT Recommended for collections serving teens.-Alison Glass, Dwight Sch. Lib., New York, NY

Copyright 2021 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 23, 2021
Newly arrived with her white father in Coventon, Conn., in the aftermath of her Black mother’s affair with a younger man back home in Arizona, Saskia Brown, 16, tries hard to fit in her new high school and put the past behind her. While researching 19th-century photography pioneer Robert Cornelius and daguerreotypes for a class project, Saskia’s new friend Lila Defensor, who is Latinx, introduces her to liquid mercury, which allows Saskia to teleport herself to the past in her dreams. As Saskia’s dream life takes a vivid turn, allowing her to meet Cornelius, her daytime life serves as an engagingly normal parallel with familial drama. Soon, Saskia introduces Lila—plus Adrienne Arch and the two popular Sampras sisters, all white—to mercury and its side effects, and they each secure a daguerreotype, and a long-dead romantic interest, of their own, navigating the consequences of surreal time travel as their contemporary lives unravel. While the novel’s abrupt conclusion doesn’t fully service its fascinating concept, this well-researched speculative narrative by Prasad (Damselfly) centering history, romance, and toxic friendships will appeal. Ages 14–17.

August 20, 2021
Grades 9-12 Prasad's latest novel explores a teenager's growth and determination to live for herself. Sixteen-year-old Saskia Brown is uprooted from her home in Arizona to move across the country with her father, after her mother's salacious affair goes public. In her new town, Saskia becomes friends with Lila, who works at the local college archives. To help with Saskia's school research assignment, Lila shows Saskia an original portrait of a boy from her research topic. It comes as a surprise when Saskia meets the boy in her dreams, and they develop a relationship. Saskia and Lila don't know the secret behind the boys, but when they tell other girls, who then seek out their own centuries-old boys, Saskia learns that not everything is what it seems. While the plot requires some suspension of disbelief, and the character development is somewhat lacking, the story is grounded in the realities of navigating friendships at a developmental crossroads. Readers drawn to unconventional genre blends or those looking to root for teen girls finding their voices might appreciate this book.

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