Full Tilt (novel)
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| Author(s) | Neal Shusterman |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Adventure novel |
| Publisher | Simon & Schuster |
| Publication date | September 1, 2004 |
| Media type | Print (Paperback), (Hardcover) |
| Pages | 208 pages |
| ISBN | 9780689803741 |
| OCLC Number | 50630474 |
| LC Classification | PZ7.S55987 Fu 2003 |
Full Tilt is a young adult novel by Neal Shusterman, published in September 2004 by Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing.[1] Described as a "psychological thriller"[2] and a "fast paced horror thriller",[3] Full Tilt has won numerous awards, including many state book awards.[4]
[edit] Synopsis
Blake, the protagonist, his younger brother Quinn, and friends Russ and Maggie, are at an amusement park. Blake then talks to a girl named Cassandra, who talks him into playing a game of ball toss. Having won, he receives a ticket from Cassandra to another amusement park later that night. Cassandra vanishes shortly after. Then they return home after the amusement park they were at closed at 10:00. As Blake and Quinn return home their mother surprises them by announcing her engagement. Blake accepts this, but Quinn angrily storms off. That night, Quinn mysteriously falls into a coma-like state. Looking at Quinn, Blake swears he can see carnival lights in Quinn's eyes, and discovers the ticket to the thrill park missing. Blake drives back to the park with Maggie and Russ. They arrive at the ravine and discover that Blake's hunch was right. Despite not having an invitation anymore, they are let in. They find out that they must ride seven rides by dawn or stay at the park forever. As they go on the rides, they discover that each exposes out one of Blake's worst fears. To Blake's horror, he discovers that if you "die" on a ride, you are absorbed into it. Having been separated from his friends, Blake runs into Cassandra in the recess of a ride, and confronts her on why she was the one who invited him to the park. Instead of answering the question, Blake is landed into his next ride. He meets his brother here however, Quinn runs away from Blake after finishing the ride. Afterward, Blake runs into Maggie. The fun house mirrors brought out the doubts in themselves, but they worked together to find the last mirror. They fell in love but just as the two came to the end of the ride, Maggie got separated from Blake and ran back into the ride and got lost. Blake manages to find another of his friends, this time Russ. To his dismay, Russ attacks Blake for his "own good", having made a deal with Cassandra. Russ then gets stuck in The Works, a place where he would work for all eternity. Blake then manages to locate Quinn again, and persuades him to escape with him. As they head towards the last ride, the trapped guests in the park cheer Blake on as it is revealed that no one had ever gone this far. However, because "King Tut" is never supposed to live, the ride starts to collapse. Blake then falls into the works and see Maggie and Russ. Cassandra, desperate to keep Blake from leaving, makes Blake and offer. If he stops here on his sixth ride will be allowed to design and rule the park. He rejects the offer and joins Quinn on his journey to the next ride.
Blake and Quinn then survive the last ride. In a cruel twist of fate, Blake is horrified when he is informed that the last ride was only his brother's fifth and time is up. Because Blake survived the seven rides he destabilized the Alternate Reality that Cassandra resides in. Cassandra then makes one final offer to Blake. If Blake survives riding one additional ride, Cassandra will release him, Quinn, Russ, Maggie and all of the other lost souls. However, if he loses, him and his friends will stay there forever. This ride takes Blake back in time to his worst childhood memory, a school bus accident from which only he survived. In the end Blake remembers how he had escaped and beats the ride, conquers his fears and saves the people he cares about. Blake, Quinn, Russ, and Maggie are then brought back to reality to find out that they had fallen unconscious while entering the park and had been in a car crash. The phantom carnival had disappeared from the clearing and they are not sure if the carnival truly happened or not.
[edit] Characters
Blake is the protagonist. He is very young and naive although plans to attend college at sixteen. He also secretly likes Cassandra and Maggie. He experiences a lot of things while younger but doesn't seem to remember. He follows all the rules, but is not very courageous. He was in a mysterious bus accident that is not revealed what it exactly was until the end of the book.
Quinn is Blake's 13 year old brother. Quinn loves thrills, and is the opposite of Blake in many ways. He is very rebellious, has piercings, and is considered a dare-devil.
Russ is Blake's best friend. he is very well built, but is not very smart. He is Maggie's boyfriend.
Maggie is Russ's girlfriend and Blake's friend. She is constantly worried about how she looks. She ends up liking Blake.
Cassandra is a mysterious spirit who owns the phantom carnival.
[edit] References
- ^ "Full Tilt - Barnes & Noble.com". Barnes & Noble. http://search.barnesandnoble.com/Full-Tilt/Neal-Shusterman/e/9780689873256/?itm=1. Retrieved 2008-03-14.
- ^ Ward, Kathy; Breanna Allen (February 8, 2004). "In the Stacks: 8 books for young minds". Juneau Empire (Juneau). http://juneauempire.com/stories/020804/boo_stacks.shtml. Retrieved October 1, 2011.
- ^ Hahn, Daniel; Flynn, Leonie; Reuben, Susan (2007). The Ultimate Teen Book Guide. Bloomsbury Publishing USA. pp. 130. ISBN 9780802797315. http://books.google.com/books?id=BsdXfXX69jgC&pg=PA130&dq=%22Full+Tilt%22+Shusterman&hl=en&ei=leqHTrGcHuTWiALE8bXNDA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CDQQ6AEwADgK#v=onepage&q=%22Full%20Tilt%22%20Shusterman&f=false.
- ^ "Simon & Schuster.com - Full Tilt / Full Tilt - Simon & Schuster.com". Simon & Schuster. http://www.simonsays.com/content/book.cfm?tab=1&pid=498280&er=9780689873256. Retrieved 2008-03-14.
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