Out of Body

A Hero’s Journey Across the Galaxy

Those entertained by the world of Harry Potter or the Marvel Universe, especially as it’s been presented through cinema over the past decade or so, will be enchanted by familiar thrills when entering the fantastic journey of fifteen-year-old Abby Kendrick in Kimberly Baer’s latest novel, Out of Body.
Abby, like nearly all adolescents, is emerging from the chrysalis of childhood, unsure of her newfound vision of the world and her blossoming prowess of psychic and physical abilities, all the while navigating the emotional maelstrom that overwhelms us all during rites of passage during one’s coming of age.
Abby unwittingly discovers she shares with her cousin Logan the power to travel like a spirit to spy on the lives of neighbors, classmates, and family. And as with Harry Potter’s cloak, the power invisibility is as much a curse as a blessing. Like Peter Parker, the Amazing Spider-Man, Abby the unseen observer understands that having such potential can corrupt as well as demand responsibility for her actions.
Abby must overcome her simmering passions from her sense of loneliness to romantic infatuation to persecution to family dysfunction while learning to harness her new powers and grappling to balance duty, friendship, courage, and kinship within her own home. These dynamic choices for Abby are compounded as she’s thrust into the realm of an extra-dimensional rescue mission.
In Out of Body, Kimberly Baer’s considerable talent as a storyteller and prose stylist is on display once again, as its plot bears an homage to the iconic coming of age tale (A Wrinkle in Time) by the master Young Adult science fiction author, Madeleine L’Engle, with the young female protagonist embarking on a hero’s journey of rescue. And like another celebrated writer of compelling, noble female leads, Ursula K. Le Guin, Kimberly Baer treats her readers with language that sings. Her deft choices in dialogue and description are poignant, relatable, and nonthreatening, all the while capturing the contradictions, challenges, and insight both young adults and the mature can easily identify with.
As she has in her previous novels, Kimberly Baer’s characters are well crafted, fully realized, and believable (not all bad, but not all good), as they grow through the problems they faced throughout the story. Best of all, once again, she weaves in cliff hangers, leaving readers unable to put down the book, eager to start the next chapter. This was a rich, exciting, and satisfying thrill ride; I can’t wait for the sequel. Kimberly Baer is the next great YA master.