A review by suzannedix
The Alex Crow by Andrew Smith

2.0

Four intertwined stories, all involving an Alex of some sort, are the impetus of this new novel by Winger author Andrew Smith. A far cry from the realistic and powerful drama of Winger, The Alex Crow tells the tale of Ariel, a refugee of Eastern Europe who has been adopted by a family in West Virginia, of The Alex Crow, a fictitious ship that attempted to reach the North Pole in the late 1800s, of Lenny, a deranged escapee from trial labs of the Alex Division and of a summer camp from hell hosted by the same Alex Division. The understanding by the reader is that these four disparate stories will unite in an ending of epic proportion. Unfortunately this is far from the case. The threads do wind together though the end result is an utter knot. While the banter of the three boys featured at the summer camp can be witty and at times laugh out loud funny, the majority of the story is dark and depressing. Disturbing and nonsensical, The Alex Crow will be a difficult novel to find an audience for.

Grade 9 and up.