Starmer, Aaron. The Storyteller. 328p. (The Riverman Trilogy: Bk. 3). Farrar. Mar. 2016. Tr $16.99. ISBN 9780374363130.

Gr 5-8 –This title concludes the original and uniquely satisfying trilogy and will not disappoint fans of the first two books. Picking up where The Whisper (Farrar, 2015) left off in the “solid world,” former narrator Alistair Cleary’s older sister, Kerrigan Cleary, assumes the narrative. Keri is troubled by what is happening to her little brother, from his involvement in the shooting of Kyle Dwyer to the disappearances of Fiona Loomis and Charlie Dwyer. And now Alistair is refusing to talk about what is going on, except in secret conversations in which he divulges unbelievable stories of a fight he is waging in an alternate universe. As Alistair shares his accounts, Keri tries to read between the lines of what he is saying to find a way to help him. What is happening with Alistair is augmented by stories that Keri herself writes, as a way of expressing her frustrations. But when the stories Keri thinks up and writes in her private journal start to contain troubling premonitions of the tales Alistair tells her, Keri must decide if she can trust her brother, or even herself. This coming-of-age novel is a thoughtful and nuanced exploration of the difficult transitions from childhood to adulthood. The uncertainty of what the characters believe to be real and imaginary parallel the way traumatic experiences can alienate young people and make them feel as though they have to struggle alone. In a subsection of publishing where trilogies often seem formulaic or forced, this refreshing take challenges traditionally reiterated narrative devices by never dealing in absolutes and not tying things off into neat bows. Fans of fantasy and realistic fiction alike will find something to love about this book, in which narrative ambiguity has never been so well leveraged. VERDICT This is a first buy for upper middle grade and YA collections, and a great recommendation for fans of the first two books as well as Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game or Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time.–Tara Kron, Aurora Public Library, CO

This review was published in the School Library Journal February 2016 issue.