Switchers

Switchers #1

by Kate Thompson

When freakish weather grips the Arctic regions and moves southward, an Irish girl and her strange companion save the world from disaster through their ability to switch into animal forms

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Fiction, Shapeshifters, Paranormal, Urban Fantasy, Magic

224 pages, Paperback

First published September 4, 1997

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.

Kate Thompson is an award-winning writer for children and adults.She has lived in Ireland, where many of her books are set, since 1981. She is the youngest child of the social historians and peace activists E. P. Thompson and Dorothy Towers. She worked with horses and travelled in India before settling in the west of Ireland with her partner Conor. They have two daughters, Cliodhna and Dearbhla. She is an accomplished fiddler with an interest in Irish traditional music, reflected in The New Policeman.

While Kate Thompson's children's fiction is primarily fantasy, several of her books also deal with the consequences of genetic engineering.

She has won the Bisto Children's Book of the Year Award four times, for The Beguilers, The Alchemist's Apprentice, Annan Water and The New Policeman. The New Policeman was also awarded the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize, the Whitbread Children's Book Award and the Dublin Airport Authority Children's Book of the Year Award for 2005.

Reviews

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

So funny how I got to reading this one! The kids & I went to the library to sign them up for the summer reading program & to check out some books for them. Asher went down the YA aisle & came back carrying this book, saying, "Book, Book." I informed him that he was not quite ready to be reading that kind of book yet & placed it on the table to give back to the front desk. After finding some appropriate books for the children, I picked that book up again & got to looking at it & decided to give it a try.

Turns out, Asher made a really great recommendation! It was right up my alley of fantasy genre, reminded me a little of the movie X-Men. I enjoyed reading it & LOVED the ending! I was needing some fiction reading since I have been bogged down marking lovely garage sale stuff!

[Clare dooley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the book "Switchers" by Kate Thompson for an honest review. I wanted to give it 3 1/2 stars but the rating system didn't allow for that. By Mousehead standards this book received 4 $ $ $ $ and $0.50 ( 4 1/2 ).
Just for the cover alone this book earned points. It caught my eye immediately. It's defiantly a head turner IMO. The book itself is another matter. It was put in the genre YA/ fantasy/sci-fi. I'm a fan of all those categories so I jumped at the chance to read it.
It is defiantly meant for the younger side of the young adult category, 12/14 yr. olds max. In my estimation . That didn't stop me from getting wrapped up in the story anyways. It has some great character's & was very different from most supernatural shape-shifter themed books. One of the major differences was the types of animals the main characters in the story changed into. From rats,deer,goats,polar bears, dragons, dolphins, whales and more! With each switch you were also given insight into each creatures way of communication , travel, fears, and instincts. It was educational as well as entertaining . This can be a rarity in literature lately.
There was no swearing, love triangles, steamy sex scenes. Just friendship. This was a change of pace from the current popularity of love between humans & "other" that is strictly against the rules.
This was the first of a trilogy and ended with a little teaser into the next book. It snagged me. I'll be reading book 2 after I get through a heaping stack of tbr books I've made commitments to.
In all this talking about the beautiful cover and age appropriate readers I haven't given you much of a review. Here's the synopsis ...

Tess a 13 yr. old has the ability to "Switch" into whatever type of animal , alive, fabled, or extinct. The only catch being that she loses the ability at the age of 15 & can choose to turn into anything she wants at that point, but no longer can switch back.
A boy named Kevin has spotted Tess as a fellow "Switcher" and asks her to help him on a monumental task that he's not even sure what it is.
Tess is the main pov in the story and as an only child in a very well to do family, what Kevin; a scrubby, loner, with seemingly no family is a puzzle to Tess. Kevin is a year and a bit more than a half older than Tess. The streets & Switching lifestyle has made him older than his years, but not to old to be nervous to make the journey alone.
Meanwhile the world is facing very unusual weather that has everyone from the government to the local meteorologist baffled. Most people & animals are heading for warmer climates that are becoming nearly impossible to find. This is where Tess & Kevin come into play. With their "Switcher" abilities they might be able to succeed where everyone else has failed.
Through a network of rodents, cat collecting lonely old spinsters and each other Tess and Kevin head directly into the storm to find out what is causing what might be an ice age.
The book "Switchers" had it's high points as well as a few low points that I honestly think were not flawed writing but more a bit to clean cut for my personal taste.
It would be a great book for that in between age bracket that is still innocent to the more suggestive and less clean cut books I'm used to reading. It's a quick fun read meant for tweens. Look to your local book store for this trilogy and more by Kate Thompson. You'll defiantly notice them because even outside this trilogy the covers of her novels are pure art! Keep turning those pages!

[Kribu · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short, quick, fun read (probably aimed mostly at the younger end of YA and younger) - I'd have adored this book as a kid, I think, but it was enjoyable enough, if very straightforward, even now. I'm glad I got the entire trilogy, as I'll be wanting to read on!

As an added bonus, after spending four days in Dublin last year, I got extra enjoyment out of all the mentions of places and areas I'd been to. It always adds an extra dimension to imagining the settings.

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Amusing but this author needs to learn to keep track of time.

[N.T. Embeast · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. I am seriously delighted and impressed with this book. While it has some concepts in it that weren't exactly aligned with my own thought processes, and while it introduced some other concepts that were surprising, even when they made perfect sense once you had them introduced to you, it was a book that was overall wonderful with fantasy and imagination! It's so great to pick up a book and read about things that are so creative and wonderful. I love being able to experience a story that says, "Well, why can't we do that? Why can't we do this? We can do the impossible. Who's to say that we can't?"

That's what reading this book was like. It was like picking up a book that had been the very echo of my feelings and dreams and desires ever since I was a child and finding for the first time that I was not the only one who thought these things. There was a lot that went into the actual finding of one's self when you're able to use the abilities of a "Switcher" as they were called in this story, and I think for anyone who hasn't been too involved in this type of fantasy before, that this would be a perfect book to start you off on a well-grounded introduction of what it means to be able to shapeshift.

Now for some personal rambling. No need to read this part if you'd like. This is my own critique concerning Shapeshifting and Shapeshifters as a species. It has no bearing on the book or its enjoyability, so you can feel free to skip past this part to the next bolded section where I continue on after my own musings. If you're interested in more thoughts on Shapeshifters themselves though, feel free to read below.

On another note, I feel that they made this magical ability also too commonplace. Perhaps that is only my own viewpoint from this preference-- and in all actuality, I'm getting into my own rambling thoughts and not critiquing the book whatsoever at this point-- it made the point of saying that you were given this gift and could choose to be whatever you wanted, up until a certain age. They made it rare, but also made it easily accessible. And while it eases the responsibility of having shapeshifters come off as an entire race-- instead claiming that everyone could potentially unlock that ability-- it makes things feel incomplete. It doesn't separate shapeshifting itself from an Ability or a Gift. It remains simply as that.

Mind, there is nothing wrong with that whatsoever, but it ruins the rarity of a gift like this, and of the responsibility that comes with this ability. I suppose that was why the age-limit was placed into the storyline as well, to check those freedoms. But in the end, while the details of shifting in this book are so akin to the freedom and wonder of what this ability means, it still has a long way to go before it measures up to the thoughts that I've had of it.

End personal musings.

Altogether the book was really a fun read. It had the excitement and wonder that all fantasy books should contain at least a fraction of, in my opinion. It also dealt with the reality of things as opposed to the magical abilities that the two main characters were bestowed with, and I was glad of that. Likewise, I enjoyed the way that the author took the time to change the writing to suit the varying thought and speech patterns of the different animals that our main characters turned into. I even like the fact that she made a point of alerting us when traits from the animals that our two main characters liked to change into the most, began to be conveyed even in their human forms. I found it a very keen inclusion in a story that handled the ability to shapeshift and take on the forms of different animals very well altogether.

The funniest thing about this book is that, for its length, you'd think it would feel short. But I felt that the book ran just as long as was necessary and ended quite well. It was decisive in the way it handled important decisions that our main characters needed to make, and that rounded off the end quite smoothly for a story that just barely surpassed 200 pages.

Even if you're not big on shapeshifters themselves, if you like adventure and animals, some mythological creatures and moments of well-written excitement, I think you'd quite love this book. It's definitely one of those books that any fantasy lover should look into and even consider adding into their library. If nothing else, it feels like a very good book to me if you want a solid example of what Shapeshifters should be like and want a reliable source to point anyone's questions to.

My recommendation: Fantasy and animals lovers should definitely check this one out and even risk buying it right off the bat, because you'll find it has enough a mix of both to satisfy for the short read that it is. For all others that have their interest sparked a little by this review, definitely give it a shot! I found this one at my library, so I'm sure that you could track it down without too much difficulty yourself. And if not, ask the librarians to order it for you. I've never seen this book outside of the library though, so other than that, I'll have to point you eBay or the like to try to find it there for a fair price. But definitely give it a run if you see it around and these things are up your alley! Otherwise, if you want just an adventure, give it a go and see!

Hope some of you will like it as much as I did!

[Deb (Readerbuzz) Nance · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tess is a Switcher---a child who can change into any animal. She meets Kevin, and she soon realizes that Kevin, too, is a Switcher. Kevin needs Tess' help in order to save the world.

[Jasmyne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Switchers was a very interesting concept from the start; the cover is unique and catches the eye. The premise draws the reader in. There were great points about this book, but it wasn't without its flaws. So, though it was an original piece and the journey was interesting, I can't give it more than a 3.

One of the best ideas about this story was giving each of the animals a different point of view. I thought this was interesting, as most shape shifters have complete control over the animal and their human thoughts remain dominant. Tess finds it hard to hold on to her human thoughts completely, but is able to enjoy and appreciate the animal she becomes because of that. The little catch to being a shifter is also an interesting twist that I enjoyed; it reminded me vaguely of Animorphs but also brought a bit more urgency to the story. The idea of the shifters learning about their limitations was a nice addition to the myth as well.

What I didn't like was the pacing; I feel that some of the slower, less important parts took up some of the more vital scenes in the story, leaving it a bit rushed and summarized toward the last few chapters. I also felt that the characters were kind of hard to feel anything for. By the end of the book, I only vaguely cared as to what their final fate might have been. The end leaves a bit of a hint toward the second installment.

It was a bit of a juvenile read, but I liked it. It was simple enough that an average reader or reluctant one can pick it up and probably get through it. The story's relationship is geared toward friendship rather than anything romantic, which is much appreciated in this day and age for YA novels. It's a little slow at some times, but overall is a decent story. It's not the first thing I would recommend for a shifters theme, but if you've already read through most of the genre, it wouldn't hurt to pick up this one too.

[Krista the Krazy Kataloguer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Shapeshifters in Ireland.

[Oanh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read when found at Stirabout B&B, Rathdrum, Ireland.

Really enjoy Kate Thompson's story-telling and interweaving of fantasy / mythic elements with the current world.

[Hailey Sawyer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well this was... certainly something.

(When freakish weather grips the Arctic regions and moves southward, an Irish girl and her strange companion save the world from disaster through their ability to switch into animal forms.) ~ Blurb from Goodreads

I genuinely like the term "Switcher". It's memorable and is a really clever way to describe the power these people have.

I kind of liked Tess' character arc. She isn't a complete newcomer to the Switcher thing, but she does have a limited understanding of the extent of her power and expands upon it throughout the story. By making Tess somewhat familiar with her Switcher power at the start, it gives this story a bit of its own identity among other stories like this and allows Tess to become more open minded about the world around her.

I also enjoyed the friendship between Tess and Kevin. At first, Tess and Kevin were on bad terms. But the more they spend time together, the more they start letting their guard down around each other. Part of what made this growing friendship enjoyable was that it allowed Tess to grow a little more as a character. For example, had Kevin not encouraged her to travel with him as a rat in chapters seven, eight, and nine, she wouldn't have gained a new sense of boldness in chapter eight. Also, in chapter eleven, they turn into goats and start punking some cattle near Lizzie's house. Here, Kevin's mischievous side rubs off on Tess and this is where their friendship really becomes strong and because of that, it's one of my favorite moments in the novel.

The scenes where Kevin and Tess are taking out aliens called Krools (who were responsible for making the world unbearably cold) were great. They're fast paced, action packed, and a fun and satisfying way for the story to cement their growing friendship.

So the rats in this novel have the ability to send images to other rat's brains as part of their language, as seen in chapter seven and in chapter eight when Kevin in rat form does this with Tess (who is also in rat form). It's never explained how they're able to do this. As far as I know, these are just regular rats and correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure rats in real life don't have this ability. I can't even be like, "Well maybe it's magic or genetic engineering or something" because there's absolutely nothing stated or implied in the novel to prove those are actual possibilities.

Aside from needing to picture the creature you want to transform into and the forms you're able to use being limited only by your imagination, nothing about the Switcher system makes any sense.

So in chapter thirteen, Tess has a "phantom limb" moment in her human form where she experiences pain from a tail that no longer exists. In chapter eight, her tail was partially eaten by another rat while she was in rat form. It's also revealed by Kevin in the "phantom limb" chapter that transforming doesn't heal injuries. He even goes as far as to show her that he has two missing toes. Tess then remembers that the cuts and bruises she got when transformed would be transferred to her base form. Now, on paper, this rule sounds interesting and can be an effective way to raise the stakes for the Switchers and increase the tension and suspense. But two major problems here. First, in chapter six, Tess flies as an owl going towards a part of Dublin to meet up and talk with Kevin, but along the way, another owl flies alongside her and it's revealed to be Kevin. However, the owl is not described as missing any body parts, which would be pretty friggin' noticeable, especially with an owl's excellent night vision. Kevin's napalm and fire related injuries from his dragon form are not transferred to his Phoenix form. In other words, if transforming doesn't in fact heal injuries, then why don't the injuries transfer to the aforementioned forms? Also, I feel this rule kind of clashes with the whole "You need to picture the thing you want to transform into" rule. When a Switcher like Tess or Kevin pictures a thing they want to become in their head, the thing isn't described as having any injuries and in that case, shouldn't the mental image overwrite any injuries a Switcher like Tess or Kevin may've received. If not, why have the "mental picture" rule to begin with? Why not instead just have a rule where the Switcher needs to have the word of the thing they wanna become pop into their head or just ditch the "transforming doesn't heal injuries" rule altogether?

In chapter twenty-two, Lizzie explains to Tess that, "All kids is born with this ability. But very few learns that they has it. You has to learn before you's eight years old, because after that your mind is set and you takes on the same beliefs as everybody else. A lot of kids find they can switch, but when their parents and friends say it's impossible, they believes them instead of theirselves. And then they forgets about it, like they forgets everything that doesn't fit in with what every one else thinks. It's only a rare few who has enough faith to know that they can do it no matter what the rest of the world thinks." Um, I'm sorry, but, how would any kid just forget about actually transforming into an animal or creature just because someone said it was impossible with seemingly no explanation as to why? With no one to turn to for help? If Tess's experience is anything to go by, that's a pretty traumatic thing for a little kid to go through. Like, do PTSD or recurring nightmares just not exist in this universe? Also, I find it really strange that the age at which a Switcher gets their power is explained, but not the reason why a Switcher permanently loses their power and gets trapped in the form they chose at the age of fifteen, especially considering that the latter is a major concern for both Kevin and Tess. Now I am willing to give it the benefit of the doubt and say that maybe it'll be explained in a later entry, but it's still quite weird.

But the most nonsensical thing about the Switcher system is revealed in chapter eighteen. Here, it's revealed that Switchers can turn into mythological creatures in addition to living and extinct animals. This is a hole so massive, someone could drive an eighteen wheeler through it. Now the idea on its own isn't bad, but in conjunction with the whole "you lose your shapeshifting power at age fifteen and are trapped in the form you chose" rule, it really ruins everything. Why? Well:

1) The tension and suspense that the latter rule could've had gets shattered because all a Switcher would have to do in order to keep their powers after the age of fifteen would be to transform into a mythological creature that can shapeshift, especially considering that there's no rule stating or implying that they can't. It's like if the "After two hours, you're permanently trapped in the form you chose" rule from Animorphs could be easily undone by just shouting "Ta-Da!" in thought speak.

2) It makes all of the Switchers look really friggin' stupid. Seriously? Not Lizzie or Lizzie's friend Nancy or Kevin or any other Switcher had figured out that they could just use the "Shapeshift into a shapeshifting mythological creature" strategy to get around the "Lose your power at fifteen" rule? Has no other Switcher ever read a book on mythological creatures or watched a documentary about them and tried to transform into some of them? With Tess, one could argue that she's not a big fan of mythology, but even then, I find it very hard to believe that she's never been the least bit curious about whether or not she can transform into a mythological creature, especially considering that it's revealed in chapter seven that Tess literally owns a book on mythology and implies that she has read it in the past.

With a hole this massive, there's gotta be something more going on with it because there's no way a beta reader or editor just didn't catch it. There's no way the author just ignored or forgot about it. Like, I have to assume this is answered in a later entry or something because if not, well, let's just say I'll be very shocked.

So, long story short, the Switcher system feels very thrown together. It's as if the author just took a bunch of things that sounded cool, without really taking the time to consider how all of those things would interact with one another.

Overall, Switchers has some decent main characters and some interesting ideas, but it just falls apart upon thinking about it for even five seconds.

Despite this, I am curious to see if that last hole I talked about gets filled in a later entry and I do want to see where Tess and Kevin's friendship goes.

Overall Grade: D+

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Switchers is a book about a girl who has the ability to change into the form of any animal - living or imagined. She keeps her gift secret until the day that she meets a boy who tells her he knows her secret. Not just that, but he is a switcher too.

Feeling the call of sa greater destiny, she runs away with the boy and they meet a batty old woman living alone in an old farm house. She too, it seems, was a switcher - but as everyone loses the ability to switch on their 15th birthday, she can no longer perform this feat.

Meanwhile curious and uncommon cold weather threatens the world, and the US military discover something unusual and potentially extremely dangerous in the arctic.

All in all, the concept here is very appealing - children with special abilities usually makes for a good tale. Unfortunately this was not one such tale - for me at least. Older readers will find the concept to be poorly thought through, the characters are wooden (except Lizzie, the old woman - but even she is a little stereotyped). The tie in with a threat to the world is all very well but it it is presented in a way that must surely only appeal to younger readers. There is very little tension, and the story is very light.

But I would hesitate to give the book to the 7+ age group that I think would enjoy the story most because it seems to be trying for an older readership. Some of the language is a little strong (event though one word is "bleeped" out), and I can't imagine my 8 year old daughter really getting into these characters. All in all, there are books I think she would enjoy more so this one will probably go straight to the attic.

That is not to say everyone will hate this book. It is written for children and children will like it. I just think there are better stories out there.

[Mark Buxton · Rating 3 out of 5]

My name is Tess, and I have a secret not even my parents know. A strange boy named Kevin shows up and threatens to tell them I have the ability to change into any kind of animal. He’s another switcher and says he needs my help to stop the snow and deep freeze that is creeping down from the Arctic. A crazy woman named Lizzie says Krools are to blame and that Kevin and I are the only ones who can stop them. We don’t know if what she says is true, but we need to fly north and find out. During our flight, Kevin reveals his own secret; his birthday is approaching in the next few days. On that day, he'll lose his ability to switch and will be stuck in one animal form for the rest of his life. What if we're in the middle of saving the world, and he's stuck as a dolphin, polar bear, or albatross?

I liked the idea of characters transforming into animals in order to save the world. However, the overall effect of the book left me a little disappointed. The plot took too long to reveal details of the problem, as too many pages were spent describing the chatacters’ trek to find Lizzie. Then, the climactic face-off with the Krools didn’t meet my anticipation. The solution felt too simple. Kevin’s age problem provided an interesting twist, and the resolution of the entire plot was satisfying. So what am I saying? If you have the patience for slow plot development and you like animals, then you should enjoy this book. Really, the concept was good, but the suspense was lacking compared to other books I’ve read recently.

[Sasha Wolf · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two children must use their secret shapeshifting abilities to avert a climate catastrophe. I enjoyed the Dublin setting of the opening chapters, although having lived there myself, one minor detail in the dialogue made no sense. The narrator of rhe audiobook also occasionally mispronounces certain words,which should have been caught by the production team. But none of that outweighed the descriptions of what it's like to shift into an animal form, which are better depicted than in most such stories. I will probably read the rest of the series.

[Amber Scaife · Rating 3 out of 5]

All children have the ability to 'switch,' to change into whatever animal they imagine, but only a very few realize it. Tess is one of those few, and when she meets up with another switcher, they set off on a quest to figure out why the world seems to be diving into another ice age.
Sounds a little scattered, and it is. It's a neat premise, but the two main elements (the switching and the ice age bit) don't gel.

[Joy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I originally read this in elementary school during my Animorphs phase. 20 years later I remembered very little about it other than its awesome cover.

I have no memory whatsoever of that crazy ending. It all moves very quickly at the end, as if the author needed to fit the book into a certain number of pages, got too carried away at the beginning, and realised she needed some sort of conflict to resolve. Quick, bring in the aliens and dragons!

I don't even know, man. It was weird.

[Olivia Teague · Rating 2 out of 5]

I rated this book two stars because I felt like it didn’t really have a storyboard to it. Also it kept changing what was happening way to much every like ten sentences it would change and at times it got very confusing. I almost rated it one star but I added the second star because at the end was where all the action started coming in.

[Cy]

I’m not going to rate this since it’s been a long time since I read it and I don’t think I could accurately give it a number, but all I can say is I went into this excited for shapeshifting and was really disappointed by the ending. I hate the trope of magical powers being a metaphor for childhood and how you have to give it up as an adult.

[Opal · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think at least one of these stars is for nostalgia's sake, as I read this when I was young and found the idea of shapeshifting fascinating. But the plot is very silly and the main character is a classist little prick and I hate her.

[Bethany Sawford · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this fast-paced adventure, following Kevin and Tess as they race to find out about the snow storms threatening their world and their own strange abilities. The timing was a little off but I appreciated the premise of this story. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Miranda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I LOVED this series as a kid so when I saw it in the library catalogue, I had to get it. Enough time has passed that I only remembered the very minimal (Tess and Kevin can change in to animals) so it was a nice, surprising read.

[Paula Soper · Rating 2 out of 5]

Somebody explain to me why they like her books... (Yes, I'm going to read one more, just in case...)

[Evelyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

An intriguing premise and plot (although I don't remember much from when I read it). This probably should be read in a full series, though.

[McKenzie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember loving this book as a kid, still enjoyed it this time around but it’s definitely geared towards the younger population.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

3/5 stars

[E]

I loved this when I was a teen, and still think of it fondly. I need to reread it!

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely had suspense throughout the whole book. Very nice for a young adult.

[Jenny Schmid · Rating 5 out of 5]

Als ich so zwischen 14-17 war, war es mein absolutes Lieblingsbuch!

[Carmelo Lopez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story and very well told

[Ainsley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick, fun read. Plays on the Arthurian theme of humans becoming animals to learn new ways of seeing the world. Seems like a great book for kids/young-adults.

[Bek Gray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read as a child, don’t remember the plot anymore but I still have distinct images in my mind from reading it, like the rats.