Rage

Gr 8 Up—Rage is the companion novel to Hunger (Houghton, 2010), which looks at anorexia through the lens of Famine. Missy is a cutter. She cuts not to enjoy pain, but rather to control it. After she has been publicly humiliated, the Horseman Death appears, offering her the opportunity to fill in for one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. She accepts the position of War by taking the symbol of the office—the sword—and galloping off on the red steed that she dubs Ares. In her new role, she travels the countryside studying conflict and learns the role of War in maintaining peace. After each adventure with Ares and her fellow Horsemen, Missy tumbles back into her high school life as though nothing has changed. Although the myth offers a unique spin on the cutting genre, it seems a bit underdeveloped here: War is never fully unleashed, and readers never see Missy's high school peers witness her new station. Purchase where the first book has been popular.—Leah Krippner, Harlem High School, Machesney Park, IL