Poisoned Waters

By Braedon Longfritz

Guile

By Constance Cooper

The water is poisoned. It’s not fatal, but it can change you. It can give you gills, or claws, or flippers. Or give you supernatural powers. The mysterious substance contaminating the Wicked Ford’s waterways terrifies everyone, and people changed by it are often considered hideous. However, some people affected by this substance are able to detect objects that have been changed. These people, known as Pearlies, are sought out for advice on certain items and what mystical powers they might have. This substance is called guile, and everyone in the Wicked Ford knows about it.

Yonie Watereye isn’t a Pearly, but her sentient cat, LaRue, is. LaRue can see into objects and discover their magical traits, if they have any. LaRue has also been Yonie’s only companion since the night her parents died years ago. As a result, Yonie and LaRue have been struggling to live in Wicked Ford with Yonie pretending to be a Pearly, as animals affected by guile are frequently killed on sight.

Guile takes readers through a magical world where a sixteen-year-old girl and her cat delve into a secret hidden in Wicked Ford, explore her family history, and figure out what happened the night her parents died. Yonie is very competent and has an amazing personality; she is honorable and courageous: “I work for my customers, not for you!...You ought to be ashamed o’ yourselves, trying to pass junk off onto people by telling ’em it’s wily” (Cooper, Chapter Six), but has a few negative traits, such as jumping to an early conclusion: “What had she been thinking? There had never been any real evidence against M’sir Turcoat” (Cooper, Chapter Fourteen) and all of this made me interested in reading more. Yonie’s character was one that motivated me, and having this interest drastically increased my liking of the book. Each of the other characters all had a unique personality, which shows time and effort was spent writing the novel, and gives the story a depth to it. The interactions between Yonie and the other characters also give another dimension to the book, as Yonie has her own opinions about each other character. LaRue, for example, although a cat, originally acts like Yonie’s sister or friend. As the story progresses, LaRue takes on more of a motherly role for Yonie, which Yonie gets sick of, and this causes a fight between them. This kind of character development and interaction really draws me in and makes me feel the characters are real people.

I would recommend Guile to anyone who loves fantasy and magic or mystery, as Yonie needs to figure out many things using clues given throughout the novel: “Maybe we ought to stop looking and start thinking… All I know about her is she gave books to Mama.” (Cooper, Chapter Twenty Four). People who enjoy History may also enjoy Guile because some of the things Yonie figures out are her history or the history of the land, and although it isn’t real world History the setting’s detail may still be interesting.