Review by Booklist Review
Eighth grade, like every other year of Felix Yz's life, isn't easy, but right now, it's increasingly intense. Why? He is inhabited by a fourth-dimensional creature, Zyx, whose presence forces Felix's body into a hunched stance he calls the Pose. One month before undergoing a procedure designed to separate the boy from his alien, Felix starts a detailed blog of his life, challenges, and thoughts. Told as a daily countdown, Felix records when he's bullied, when he finally talks with Hector (on whom he has a crush), how the Yz family copes with his situation, and when his fears about the procedure bubble up. Felix is likable and funny, and his relationship with Zyx is fresh and genuine. Containing eye-opening diversity, including Felix's relationship with his gender-fluid grandparent (Vern or Vera depending on the day), the story provides an original take on classic themes of family acceptance and middle-grade love. There are plenty of laughs to be had in this lovable debut. Bunker is an author to watch.--Fredriksen, Jeanne Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Felix Yz, the 13-year-old narrator of Bunker's captivating debut, is just like everyone else. Well, mostly. At age three, Felix was fused with Zyx, "a hyperintelligent being from the fourth dimension," during an accident involving one of his father's inventions, which also killed his father. A dangerous procedure to separate Felix from Zyx is scheduled to take place in 29 days, and Felix is determined to make the most of the intervening time. Felix tells his story via his blog, using Zyx's perfect recall to recount conversations verbatim as he contends with bullies and works up the courage to talk to his crush, a boy named Hector. Felix's humor, vulnerability, and strength give this story its big heart, which is rounded out by a loving family that includes Felix's mother, piano prodigy older sister, and genderfluid grandparent who goes by Vera or Vern on different days. Set against a countdown to the unknown, Felix's story is a love letter to anyone who feels out of place and a testament to the beauty of being "different." Ages 10-up. Agent: Brianne Johnson, Writers House. (June) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 5-8-Felix Yz would be an absolutely normal 13-year-old, if an accident in his father's lab had not fused him with Zyx, a superintelligent being from the fourth dimension, when he was three years old. This alien causes him to appear disabled; Felix is painfully bent, and he twitches when Zyx gets excited, and sometimes cannot speak, making him an easy target for bullies. But he has the love and support of his family: his bisexual mother, piano-prodigy sister, and gender-fluid grandparent. Now that he is maturing, Felix must be separated from Zyx, or they will both die. The problem is that there is a high probability that one or both could die during the procedure. As Felix counts down the days to the surgery, he journals his daily life, with the help of Zyx's perfect recall. His entries reveal a caring, introspective, and terrified teen who has a talent for writing and a crush on a biracial boy. Bunker's multifaceted characters help readers consider gender identity, race, and sexuality pragmatically but thoughtfully, as she introduces gender-neutral pronouns and the concept of Threeness that Felix develops. Michael Crouch performs brilliantly; with true emotion and wit, he creates an instantly likable character in Felix. He, Tara Sands, and Erin Spencer beautifully manage the difficult task of voicing the broad cast of characters, Zyx's interjections, and sister Bea's observations. -VERDICT This charming, engaging, humorous, and heartrending tale of self-awareness and coming of age is enriched by the superb audio presentation.-MaryAnn Karre, Vestal, NY © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Thirteen-year-olds may sometimes seem like alien creatures, but how often do you meet one with an actual alien inside? Meet Felix Yz (pronounced like is). When Felix was three, his scientist father was vaporized in a lab accident and Felix himself got fused at the atomic level with a hyperintelligent being from the fourth dimension named Zyx (rhymes with six, and is short for Zyxilef, Felix Yz spelled backward). As a result, Felix has trouble talking, his limbs jerk, and his body is contorted into a hunched-over position (the cover story for outsiders is that he suffered a traumatic brain injury as a child). As the novel opens, there are twenty-nine days to go until ZeroDay, when scientists will attempt to separate Felix and Zyx in a procedure that may either help Felix or kill him. For as long as Felix can remember, he and Zyx have literally been inseparable. How will he be different without Zyx? In the novel, Zyx is real, but readers may see in him a metaphor for anything that makes people feel different, and may start to question what is and isnt normal. When Felix asks whether Zyx is a girl fourth-dimensional alien or a boy fourth-dimensional alien, Zyxs reply is question mark. Felix has a crush on cute classmate Hector; he doesnt know if Grandy is his grandmother or grandfather because vo (Grandys invented nongendered pronoun) alternates between Vern and Vera during the week. The novels premise allows for fascinating reflections on these and many other ways of feeling different, and debut author Bunker pulls it off with little heavy-handedness. dean Schneider (c) Copyright 2017. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A freak scientific accident leaves an ordinary Maine boy atomically bonded to a fourth-dimensional being in this debut middle-grade novel."If it wasn't for the fused-with-Zyx-thing, I suppose I would just be normalwhatever that means," writes Felix Yz in his "secret blog," first published by Bunker as online interactive fiction. Counting down the days until an experimental Procedure might free him (possibly fatally) from the alien bond that has made movement and speech painfully difficult for 10 years, the white eighth-grader chronicles the quirks of his loving family, his passion for drawing and writing, his run-ins with bullies, and his awkward crush on another boy at school. Meanwhile Zyx (typing through Felix's fingers) provides running commentary as something of a "wise fool" archetype, dispensing gnomic truths and mystical insight with the eager charm of a hyperintelligent puppy. But the outr premise is only the setup for this unique, whimsical tale; it's also about webcomics and chess and geometry and jazz and the astonishing "threeness of things." It's about the suffocating terror of death and the sweet agony of first love. It's about transcending binaries, both the obviousFelix's mother is bisexual, his grandparent gender-fluid, the boy of his dreams both biracial (black/white) and bilingualand those more subtle and profound, all in the most gloriously matter-of-fact way. Above all, it's about Felix's voice: acutely perceptive, disarmingly witty, devastatingly honest, and utterly captivating. Joyful, heartbreaking, completely bonkers, and exuberantly alive. (Science fiction. 10-adult) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
