The Little Bookworm
Jessica Day moves to the small town of Bixby, Oklahoma with her family when her mom gets a new job. At first, everything seems normal. That is until midnight rolls around and the world around her freezes. Jessica learns she is a "Midnighter," one of the handful of teens in town who can live in the blue time between midnight and 1 am. But something about Jessica is different and she attracts trouble in the form of the darklings who live in the blue time, ancient creatures who are out for Jessica. With the help of the other four Midnighters, Jessica must fight the darklings and learn why they want to kill her so much.

So this is Scott Westerfeld's first young adult book. I've read all the rest except this series and Leviathan, which just came out. It was really good and I enjoyed it. The concept is great though less original than his later books. It came across as appropriately chilling and suspenseful and occasionally funny and moved along at a nice pace. I liked Jessica and Jonathan and Dess and I'm not real sure about Melissa but Rex was okay. I've always found the idea of ancient creatures intriguing (must be why I'm a Buffy fan) and the mythology is great in this book without being too overwhelming, just enough to tantalize. I got a good image out of the book and I could definitely see it as a movie. ( )

A group of teenagers with the ability to access a secret hour after midnight face off against the feline darkings who seem bound and determined to destroy the newest addition to their crew.

THE SECRET HOUR is very much a series opener. Westerfeld introduces the series' premise, gives us a chance to get to know the characters and sets up the main conflict that'll carry us through the next two books. There's plenty of action, of course, (this is Westerfeld we're talking about here!), and there's a definite resolution to this story arc, but it's pretty clear that there's more to come.

I found it quite readable, and I loved the way the magic worked, but I'll admit that I was expecting a bit more from it. The characters are all fairly interesting, (and can I just say that I am ridiculously jealous of Jonathan's talent?), but they never really came alive for me. I couldn't really connect with them; not in the way I connected with Tally in the UGLIES books or Cal in PEEPS. It's early days yet, though, and it seems clear that Westerfeld has set this up as a cumulative thing. I'm sure that some of the stuff he's established here will pay off in a big way as the series unfolds. I'd certainly recommend this to anyone who's enjoyed his other novels.

(A slightly different version of this review originally appeared on my blog, Stella Matutina). ( )

Having read the "Uglies" series by Westerfeld, I was looking forward to reading this. It was a concept that interested me and I found it was written well, however it hasn't inspired me to read the rest of the series, or even find out what happens to the characters. Ultimately I found myself wondering what was wrong with having an extra hour at night! ( )

Reviewed by Me for TeensReadToo.com

Jessica Day has just moved to Bixby, Oklahoma from Chicago with her family. Still trying to find her niche in the local highschool, she's noticed by a group of students who are very different from your average teens. Not to mention that her dreams at night are becoming very, very vivid--such as the fact that for one hour at midnight, time seems to literally stand still.

Such is the life of the Midnighters, a group of teens who were born at midnight and have the ability to see the "blue time", the twenty-fifth hour of the day where time stands still for everyone else. Each of the group has a special power, both in and out of the blue time--Rex is a Seer, Dess is a Polymath, Melissa is a Mindcaster, and Jonathan is an Acrobat.

Jess is, of course, skeptical at first that time is actually standing still, and that her new rag-tag group of friends has special powers. But soon unmistakeable proof arises that the arrival of Jessica Day in Bixby is causing change--the creatures of the blue time are becoming dangerous and seem to want her dead.

Jess needs to find out her own special power before something bad happens to the town and it's midnight inhabitants. As the group struggle to keep the night creatures away, it's up to Jess to discover which power she possesses that's making everyone so nervous.

I LOVED this book! A totally original concept, Scott Westerfeld has created a series with truly interesting characters and crystal-clear visualization. I can't wait to read the next book in the series, to see where the Midnighters go from here.

Definitely a recommended read! ( )

Not as good as the Uglies trilogy, but an interesting premise. I'll read the sequels eventually, but they aren't a high priority right now. ( )