Mercury Boys

by Chandra Prasad

Book Overview

Saskia Brown feels like an outsider at her new school being biracial in a population of mostly white students. One day she encounters a vial of liquid mercury, touches an old style of photograph and makes a discovery. She's able to visit the man in the portrait although only in her dreams. Under her guidance, other girls in her class steal portraits of men from the photo collection too and try the experiment for themselves. At first, the Mercury Boys...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 164129387X
• ISBN13: 9781641293877
• Release Date: July 2022
• Publisher: Soho Teen
• Length: 360 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.5" x 8.2"
• Age Range: 14 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 9 and higher

Customer Reviews

Original And Fascinating Premise

Rating is 3 1/2 stars. Mercury Boys is the story of Saskia who has moved from Arizona to Connecticut with her father because of her mother's affair and her parents subsequent separation. She and her father have been traumatized by her mother's behavior and are trying to recover and start anew. Saskia befriends Lila, a classmate who works in a university library which contains early photographs called daguerreotypes. Saskia accidentally discovers that if she touches mercury, she can travel back in time to meet the man in the picture. This information is shared with some other girls and a secret society is formed with the girls choosing a daguerreotype illicitly from Lila's library. The original concept, creativity and writing is excellent in Mercury Boys. The time travel and historical elements are fascinating and could have been further explored. The focus seemed to be more on the toxic friendships and bullying within the group of girls. I did not like any of the characters with the exception of Lila who demonstrated some responsibility and paid a price for caving to pressure from the other girls. Overall, there was a disjointed feel to the story and the reader is left wanting more. However, I will definitely look for future books from this author as she is a talented writer. #BooksForwardFriends