Maddie's First Review

Morpheus Road: The Light
By D.J. Machale
Review by Maddie Hallowell

In the novel Morpheus Road: The Light by D.J. MacHale, 16 year-old Marshall Seaver has to face the truth on some things he doesn't plan on dealing with during summer vacation. Marsh's best friend, Cooper Foley, has done some things he shouldn't have, he would get in real fights, or sneak out when he was grounded, but the worst was when he sold counterfeit Yankees tickets, thus for the summer, Cooper’s parents are taking him to their vacation home. This is when the haunting began.

Marsh lives in a small town in Connecticut named Stoney Brook. All of the haunting started right when summer vacation began. Marsh's mother died 2 years ago. She was a photographer, and she would collect little gifts to bring back to Marsh. One time she had one of her pictures in a magazine, and Cooper really liked it. So for Cooper’s birthday, she framed a copy and gave it to him. That picture was at the Foley's summer house. Later in the story it adds clues about a murder.

Marsh thinks he is good friends with Cooper because they're completely different ' " I worry. Cooper doesn't. I think things through. Cooper doesn't. I freeze in social situations. Cooper doesn't. I hate playing sports. Cooper doesn't. I worry about what people think of me. Cooper doesn't" ' (MacHale 6). He thinks that they stayed friends for so long was because the never would compete. Marsh has the whole summer planned out for him and Cooper, but those plans change when Cooper goes to the summer house. Marsh was going to go visit him at the lake house but when Cooper goes missing all of that changes.

On the day that Marsh and his father had a "little" argument, Marsh threw a souvenir that his mother had gotten for him against the wall. Marsh has some strange things happen to him when his dad goes to Las Vegas for the week, after he threw the souvenir. His father wants him to come with him but Marsh wants to stay home. After the first night Marsh doesn't want to stay at home alone anymore. He thinks that he is being haunted, and that the only person who will understand him is Cooper. The only problem is Cooper is at his family’s summer house. Cooper sold counterfeit Yankees tickets and was caught, so that is why his parents are taking him to their summer house at Thistledown Lake.

When Marsh goes to his friend’s house and only Cooper’s sister Sydney is there, he asks to spend the night. The next day, when Sydney called her parents so that Marsh could talk to Cooper, they found out that Cooper was missing. Marsh is convinced that his being haunted is related to his friend Cooper going missing. He believes that when he finds out what happened to Cooper, the haunting will stop and he can get back to summer vacation with Cooper.

The main character and narrator Marsh is worried about Cooper, but he also doesn't want to be home alone. Marsh believes he is being haunted by a character he draws named Gravedigger. Cooper's sister Sydney and Marsh end up helping each other, because when Marsh told Sydney what was happening to him, it started happening to her as well.

Cooper is a laid back sort of guy. He doesn't care what other people think of him or if they like him. He disappeared one night; he does this sometimes, and no one thought anything of it. His friend Marsh and his sister Sydney came up to the lake house so that when he came home his mother and father wouldn't be the only one to greet him.

Sydney, Cooper’s sister, is one year older than Marsh and Cooper, not so nice, and very smart. ' " The girl was cold. I mean icy. She was a year ahed of us in school and light-years ahead academically. I think she'll have a shot at valedictorian" ' ( MacHale 10). Cooper and Sydney don't get along so well. You wouldn't think that she would care that Cooper is missing.

This is a great book to read for people who like to be on the edge of your seat. This is a thrilling and scary story. I really enjoyed reading this book. It always kept me on my toes, asking and wondering about things. This book is a combination of horror, fantasy, and adventure and that is what keeps people reading, this is a boom I never wanted to put down. This story has lots of ups and downs; just when its going one way, boom, it goes the other way. Morpheus Road: The Light is not like other books: it is hard to guess what will happen because most of the things happen when it is least expect it.