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2018 Nominee

Flickers

Written by Arthur Slade.
Published in 2016 by HarperCollins.

Isabelle and Beatrice are twins born near Lethbridge, AB, in 1913. Only a few years later, in 1926, their life has changed dramatically. Both of their parents have died, their home has burned to the ground, and the girls are in Santa Monica, CA, living as the wards of Mr. Cecil, an up-and-coming director of movies, or flickers as they were known at the time. Although they are twins, the two girls couldn’t be more different. Isabelle is pretty and has become a film star thanks to Mr. Cecil’s tutelage. She has only starred in silent films to date, but she is soon to have a role in the very first talking picture to hit movie screens. Her biggest asset is a piercing and powerful scream – and soon it will actually be heard by theatre audiences. Beatrice, on the other hand, was badly scarred as a baby and spends her time in seclusion at the Cecil estate, absorbed in science books and an insect collection and not being included in any of the Hollywood activities. This gives her time to think, and more and more she begins to wonder about what happened to her and her twin as infants and the role Mr. Cecil has played in their lives and in various other disturbing coincidences at the estate in Santa Monica. He isn’t always the caring guardian he portrays, and his upcoming movie begins to take on a chilling, even evil, quality which Beatrice senses but cannot quite explain.

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12 thoughts on “Flickers

  1. St.Jerome School

    This book was amazing!!!!!I loved all the plots and twists! I never expected them! Arthur Slade (the author) thought of side elements that perfectly tied into the story.I don’t know what to vote for!I am tied between the Inn between and flickers! I rate both of them a 5 star.

  2. wildwood

    i think this book was difficult to understand because almost every single chapter had a new problem. but still this book was my favorite book.

  3. Wildwood School

    Flickers is a great book. In a scale of 1 to 10 I would give it a 10. I’d definitely recommend this to others. Really a suspense story, a big page turner. Whoever is reading this comment, read this book.NOW!!!!. It’s pretty neat.

  4. wildwood

    I loved the book it had great characters but it was so devastating that Isabelle got stuck in limbo

  5. wildwood

    Flickers by Arthur Slade book was my favorite book because I loved how there were so many problems that the readers had to figure how to solve them. On a scale of one to ten i would chose ten because i think this book was very interesting. i liked the part were Beatrice and Ralph were investigating Mr. Cecil’s office area when Beatrice noticed a jar of hornets.

    Edie

  6. Wildwood school

    I really liked the book Flickers by Arthur Slade because it had a lot if action and it was a different type of book. It was different because there was not like a murder but an incident which started it all. There was a monster that was half human (Mr. Cecil) which made the book different from there action books which are usually about murder or suicide. The frankenstein movie was what started all the phenomenon, I would encourage others to read it to.

  7. Hillhurst

    This book is about 2 twins named Beatrice and Isabelle, when they are just born, their dad dies a mysterious death so they go to this orphanage owned by someone name Mr. Cecil. Isabelle starts becoming a major movie star in Mr. Cecil’s films but Beatrice thinks something fishy was going on since she saw someone she knew dead in the pool with welts all over her body like she was bitten by something. In the last film, Beatrice figure out was going on all these years and they stop him from completing his plan but Isabelle gets stuck inside the movie world.

    My thesis statement is that all GATE grade 4-6 kids should read this book because it is very interesting and just goes into so much detail about everything; thoughts,setting, etc. It also shows how things were back in 1929.

    GATE students should read this book because this book is superior to the other books because it has a twist of mystery to it because it gives clues like the reporter’s hat that give you an idea of what’s going to happen but the clues aren’t quite enough to tell you what’s going to happen because it doesn’t show how it happened or when. It also has a mysterious way of storytelling because it makes the character go in and see one tiny bit at a time until they finally find out what happens when the book is almost done and the villain’s plan has almost succeeded.

    I think the purpose of this book is to entertain because it is fiction. I think that this has been achieved really well because it really entertained me because everything was just all building up to one huge moment that would solve everything or destroy everything. The bug bite and the finger bone at the bottom was just leading everything up to one huge moment. The theme of this book was Beatrice trying to find out what Mr. Cecil’s actually doing.

    This book is also really good because it was constantly action filled because all the time Beatrice was doing something that was building up the tension and made it so that you can’t stop reading.

    I recommend this book to others because it never stop the action and that it is just an amazing book with an amazing plot and writing style. It also goes into detail on everything that is very important.

  8. Springbank Middle School

    I thought it was a very different story from the many I have read. I thought it was a very creative concept and after reading it I had to sit down and think for a while. Reading it gave me chills and I couldn’t stop reading! It was a great book and I would like to read more books like it. Joceline

  9. Taber Mennonite School

    I think this book was pretty interesting. The ending is unexpected and surprising. The story has quite a few twists. Most of the time when i was reading it, i didn’t want to put the book down. It is also not a hard read. the story is about twins that are named Beatrice and Isabelle. Isabelle is a beautiful young girl and is a movie star. Beatrice, on the other hand, is a girl with birthmarks all over her face. She likes to study insects. I would recommend this book.

  10. Aurora

    Owen I have a question for you did you like the details like the scorpion wasps .

    From:Hunter


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