Dread Locks

When you've always had everything you ever wanted, what's to stop you from wanting everything? Shusterman's modern-day Medusa-tale asks, and answers that question.

Parker Baer has just turned 15. He's popular, athletic, rich -- a Lexus in the driveway on his 16th birthday is a done deal: in his own words, spoiled rotten. His new neighbor Tara is a golden girl -- the epitome of cool. Someone all the kids want to hang out with, she presents the ultimate temptation. Parker sees the oddities... why does Tara wear sunglasses, day and night... why does she live alone in the huge, garishly painted mansion with only incredibly lifelike statues for company... and why do his schoolmates suddenly crave copious quantities of milk, sand, and mud? show more

Shusterman's tale is creepy, but riveting. I couldn't put it down, and ended up spending the afternoon discovering not Tara's secret, but Parker's. show less

Dread Locks (Dark Fusion #1) by Neal Shusterman is an exciting fantasy story for teens about grade 7-10 I would guess. (Although I enjoyed it too.) I bought it at a Library sale for my grand kids and thought I would read and review it first. This book combines old myths with today to make a fun fantasy. A totally spoiled, bored, rich kid gets an interesting and hot new neighbor that sets the school a buzz with excitement and strange happenings. Very good story plot, great characters, and fun twists and surprises. Kids today aren't up on myths of old so this might just teach them a thing or two along the way, lol. Enjoyed it also because I love the old myth stories. I think my grand kids will enjoy this also. Can't wait to give them show more their book. show less

Reviewed by Me for TeensReadToo.com

In Neal Shusterman's new DARK FUSION Series, the author takes myths, legends, and fairy tales, mixes them up with modern-day tales of teen angst and horror, and comes up with an entertaining read. In DREAD LOCKS, we get a whole stew pot full of retold stories--GOLDILOCKS AND THE THREE BEARS, MEDUSA, KING MIDAS. They're all there, and the finished product is a quick, fun, and sometimes depressing read.

Parker Baer is the type of fifteen-year old I both love and hate. He's always been given everything he's ever wanted, due to the fact that his parents are wealthy. He has an obnoxious older brother, Garrett, and an irritable little sister, Katrina. For his birthday, his brother bought him a motocross bike, show more and his parents gave him a statue. Yes, the teenaged Parker is now memorialized in bronze.

Then Parker meets his new next-door neighbor, Tara Herpecheveux, in the most surprising way--she's sleeping in his bed. But Tara's strangeness, and undeniable attractability, is a hodge-podge of attributes--she's exotically beautiful, has the strangest blond dread locks, always wears mirrored sunglasses, and has an aversion to the belief of personal property.

As Parker gets more and more entangled in the strangeness that is Tara, he begins to notice the ever-increasing weird behavior of the students in his school. Odd cravings, incessantly strange behavior, and a general weirdness pervade the halls of the private school for the rich. Once Parker finally accepts the truth of what's happening, it's too late.

The ending, although slightly predictable in some ways, was a surprise overall. It left me feeling sad, but then again, most fairy tales have one or more tear-inducing scenes in them. DREAD LOCKS is an interesting retelling of some notable myths, and if you're into horror stories, this one should definitely do the trick! show less

Medusa was not actually killed by Perseus, and now she's pretending to be a normal teen and moves into the mansion next door. Our hero is a typical rich kid, gets everything he wants and so he's quite bored with it. So he's very intrigued by the new girl next door who wears sunglasses all the time and is very mysterious. He eventually finds out she's sucking the lives out of classmates, etc, and turning him into one of her so he has to fix it.

This book has a twist in it that is surprising and suspenseful. The main thing I didn't like about the book was that there were too many grammatical errors and there were parts that were too hard to understand. This seemed more like a rough draft rather than a book. 4/5 JT (10th grade) I chose this book because I really like Greek Mythology. AG

Even if its mythology it’s not boring it’s a very interesting book. I choses this book because it caught my eye.

From School Library Journal
Grade 8 Up–Shusterman brings a new and unique perspective to the old Medusa story. Parker Baer, 14, has plenty of material possessions but is bored. Then Tara, with her spirals of golden hair and dark sunglasses, moves in next door. Within a short time, Parker's family and friends are sick and behaving strangely. When Tara takes him on a death ride that takes them over a cliff and neither is injured, the horror of her power becomes clear to him. As the situation becomes grimmer, the teen is forced to confront her with bone-chilling, spine-tingling results. Exotic and strange Tara keeps readers on the edge of their seats with her unconventional behavior and unusual perspective on everyday life. The plot show more twists and turns move the story toward an unexpected end. In a horrifying climax, Shusterman delivers the moral of the tale, unusual in itself, for most books of this genre rarely deliver a message so powerfully. However, it is the gross-out factor that readers will remember. Eating kitty litter with milk, statues with fingerprints, and other unexplained (until the very end) behaviors will keep readers turning the pages even as they shudder to think what will come next. The book's front cover will attract teens, and the title perfectly fits the story. A good addition for those libraries with horror lovers who have moved on from R.L. Stine's "Fear Street" series (S & S).–Molly S. Kinney, Nova Southeastern University, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
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From Booklist
Gr. 6-9. Shusterman's latest offering in the Dark Fusion series (which draws on folktales and mythology) is based on Medusa. Fourteen-year-old Parker Baer is a spoiled, bored, rich kid who is fascinated by the new girl next door. Tara Herpecheveux is British, with thick, curling, golden hair like glowing dreadlocks, and she always wears sunglasses. She quickly becomes the person to know at school, but those she takes an interest in fall ill with a strange sickness: their skin and eyes go gray, a notable lethargy takes over, and their limbs turn to stone. Readers will quickly figure out that Tara is actually Medusa and that she has decided to give Parker a Gorgon's gifts. The real question is, will Parker resist? Don't expect subtlety or character development, but this fast-paced, short read will be a big hit with fans of Darren Shan, of the Cirque du Freak series. Debbie Carton
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved show less