The Healing Wars: Book I: The Shifter

by Janice Hardy

Book Overview

Fifteen-year-old Nya is an orphan struggling for survival in a city crippled by war. She is also a Taker--with her touch, she can heal injuries, pulling pain from another person into her own body.

But unlike her sister Tali and the other Takers who become Healer's League apprentices, Nya's skill is flawed: she can't push that pain into pynvium, the enchanted metal used to store it. All she can do is shift it from person to...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0061747084
• ISBN13: 9780061747083
• Release Date: August 2010
• Publisher: Balzer & Bray/Harperteen
• Length: 400 Pages
• Weight: 2.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.3" x 7.6"
• Age Range: 8 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 3 to 7

Customer Reviews

Pretty interesting

This book was overall amazing. I love the topic and the book itself. The only thing that I don’t really like was, the fact that Nya is a little overpowered. But who am I to say anything! Definitely recommend this, it is pretty easy to read.

Great quick read

Although I haven't been a regular YA reader in decades, I picked up "The Shifter" on recommendation and read like I was under the covers with a flashlight again. I was impressed with the complex moral situations Nya faces. I loved the political backdrop--recently conquered island trying to find a new normal--and the intricacies of pain and healing in this world. Nya acts fast and does her best thinking on the move. The two cracks in the spine where I succeeded in walking away are when Nya has too much time in a safe room with friends. But with 25 years on the heroine, it may not be fair of me to begrudge her hang-out time. Eagerly awaiting book 2!

the shifter

its very short easy and addicting to read ive finished the shifter and now looking for the next volume but i cant find it so if anyone finds it can you tell me what its called please

Feisty heroine who can shift pain

This story is a fast, fun read, with engaging characters set in a beautifully-wrought world. The teenage heroine Nya is a feisty and street-smart war-orphan in the defeated city of Geveg. Intensely loyal to her friends, thoughtful about the hard choices she must make, she's nevertheless always in the middle of the action. Even when in danger and afraid, she's good company. Nya has the ability to absorb a person's pain. But unlike the Healers, who can lift pain and move it into the fantastic metal, pynvium, she can only shift it into another person. It's pretty useless, but in the course of rescuing her sister Tali, she finds she has another gift - one that makes her a dangerous weapon that her enemies will want to control. The world Hardy has created is fascinating, and described in just enough detail to drawn a reader in without slowing the pace.

An Avid Teenage Reader's Opinion

When Healers lay hands on injured people they can absorb the injury and pain into their own bodies, and later move it from themselves into a stone called pynvium. At least they can in the medieval fantasy world created by Janice Hardy in her middle grade novel, The Shifter, due out in October. The story centers around 15 year old Nya who is a Healer...but with a defect. She can only shift the pain and injury into other people, not pynvium. This little 'quirk' is something she and her younger sister, Talia, a normal healer, keep secret because they're not sure if the Duke would have Nya killed or use her as a weapon in his wars. Talia lives at the League doing her regular healing stuff while Nya is left struggling on the streets, working when she can to keep from starving. Formally wealthy, the girls were orphaned and left penniless and alone when their parents were killed fighting during the last war. Talia helps her sister when she can but, for both their sakes, can't jeopardize her place in the league. The opening of the book finds Nya getting caught stealing eggs and I liked how the opening chase gets the story rolling with exciting action. Soon Nya's secret is uncovered by a nefarious fellow and Talia is in eminent danger. Nya must use her gift in ways she dislikes in order to not only save her sister but other Healers in the league, and foil a political plot that could put the whole town in danger. In the process she also discovers abilities she never knew she had. The Shifter starts out with a bang and, other than a few slow steps, keeps rolling quickly. Hardy covers a lot of ground. She touches on prejudice, moral choices, what should be given up for the greater good, family/friend loyalty, accepting yourself and others, personal sacrifice, and even throws in a pinch of romance between Nya and the young guard who chases her down in the first couple of pages. Every now and then the messages go to the brink of being too heavy handed but not too often and Hardy backs off just before becoming preachy. Nya is likable and believable for the most part. She seemed to dither back and forth a lot. She'd have an epiphany but later rethink her position. That got mildly annoying about 3/4's into the book, but Nya and her little band of friends and family are characters you definitely care for and you're rooting for them to win in the end. Even the 'bad' guys had some depth and weren't simply two dimensional. Hardy utilizes good description and some great lines. My favorite was when a ferry accident occurs during a storm and Nya can't get out into the water to help all the survivors. She says, "My heart reached farther than my hands ever could." How beautiful! Good suspense, nasty political intrigue, a few surprises and a great twist on Nya's abilities. Overall The Shifter is a very enjoyable middle grade novel that is worth the read.

An inventive, purely enjoyable fantasy

From the very first page, The Shifter draws you in--the scene opens with Nya discussing the best way to steal chicken eggs. Which to me is pure brilliance. The first thing I thought? Boy, does Nya have a voice. A great voice. Within the first pages alone, by dint of wonderful dialogue, voice, and action, The Shifter promises to be a great read--and the rest of the book certainly lives up to and even exceeds this expectation. I really liked the premise, since it is something fresh in fantasy. The idea of a girl with the power to take and give pain is just plain fascinating--and the decision she faces of whether to use her power for good or evil is equally intriguing. But Nya is desperate to hide her gift from people who might use her talent to hurt others. Even though Nya could easily have become heartless and uncaring because of the situation she's in, she isn't. Nya is just absolutely wonderful, with her humorous, charismatic voice and caring nature--helping anyone from her sister, a boy she meets, or people in need. She is definitely a strong female protagonist, which is something I admire. I love the world that Hardy created--I thought it was well fleshed out, and the conflict between the occupying Baseeri and the Gevegians is very believable. Nya herself is Gevegian; a war orphan that has fallen on hard times since the Baseeri took over. The Shifter presents some serious moral decisions: Nya is faced with many hard choices throughout the book--wealth and everything she wants versus using her power in a way that she knows isn't right. Of course, this is all expertly intertwined into a fast-paced, action-packed fantasy that had me flipping pages feverishly. And there was some cute-maybe-romance to accompany Nya's adventurous exploits. I couldn't get enough--I wanted more Nya, more of her wittiness and charm, more of the world portrayed in The Shifter. This book is just pure enjoyment--it will transport you to a whole other, wondrous world filled with Takers, Shifters, and magic of more than one kind.