Niner

by Theresa Martin Golding

Macey McAllister, "Niner" to her classmates, is missing a lot of things--her thumb, her birth parents, her history--and now her adoptive mother had disappeared as well. So one morning when Macy finds a locket on her front lawn, she is convinced that it is a sign, something placed there just for her. But when others seem to want the locket as well, Macey, her sister, Deena, and their friends are unwittingly drawn into the middle of a frightening and dangerous game. In the midst of this danger, Macey must confront an ugly truth. Is it her fault that Mom left? Is it time for her to find her birth parents? From the innocent discovery of the locket to the surprise revelation of its significance, Macey is faced with a question that will affect the rest of her life. When she finds the answer, she also discovers something of great importance--the place she truly belongs.

Genres: Young Adult

208 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2008

Reviews

[Devon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn't sure how much I liked this book because of its ham-fisted foreshadowing, but let's be real--my soft spot is for people who feel hurt and left out, especially in middle grade books, so it definitely got to me by the end. I loved Macey and her vulnerable, believable, voice. And Golding handles the other characters--especially the father--with the same grace.

[Cornmaven · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought I would like this book better, but it was kind of mixed up. The main theme is one of adoption issues, and Macey, the main character, has major ones. While she's trying to figure them out, encounters with drug dealers, runaway boys, crazy grandmas, Macey with only nine fingers, and a mother who abandons the kids pop in.
A better writer could have pulled them all together, but it just seemed like the other storylines got in the way, instead of assisted. I also thought having the adoptive mother disappear from the girl's life was not very real. She has very serious identity issues, and then you add an adoptive mom abandonment on top of it? It's explained in the end, but I thought that all of the loose ends were solved way too conveniently. The death in the book, which starts the book, very mysteriously, and is revealed near the end, just didn't fit.
It was like the author had all of these ideas, and tried to use them all in one fell swoop.
As an adoptive parent, I saw some of the fears, fantasies, and angst about adoption as pretty real, and I wish Golding had stuck to that.

[Mathew Eyers · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book "niner" is about this young girl names macey. her parents left her at a shelter. for a couple years she sat there waiting, one day all that waiting was rewarded with her new step parents. her step mother leaves and its her her sister and her step father. one day macey finds a locket and believes her mother left it for her. so she decides she wants to find out if it really was her mother that left it for her. the genre of this book is adventure and conflict. it is man vs society. theme is also adventure and one girls love for her step parents. one motif is why she is called niner she only has nine fingers, but she can do anything and does everything a regulaer person with ten fingers can. the writting style of this author is pastionate and kind of inmature, she doesnt really stay on topic but when she is on topic she uses good wording and emotion. my overall critique of this book is good teenager book can be challenging for young readers but other than that great book

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Niner is the nickname of a twelve-year-old probably biracial girl without a thumb. The summer is dealing with her own adoption issues and her adopted mother's abandonement, she gets involved with a runaway boy and some drug dealers that think she stole their money, even though she thinks they are after a broken locket that they found. The book starts with a funeral and then goes back to tell what happened and who is being buried. It's quite suspenseful and reads quickly. It also works well as an adoption story because Niner must contend with her relationship to her sister who is genetically their parents' daugher, the fact that she does not look like her family, her questions about whether she has inherited evil genes, and her fear that she was the cause of her mother's leaving. The author was quite deft at successfully pulling together the adoption story and the suspenseful stories of the runaway and the drug dealers. I think the Caroline Cooney crowd might go for this. Bravo.

[Katrina · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book had a LOT of foreshadowing (...we helf to our swear even after what happened later that night.) which got a little annoying but I really liked the love between the narrator (called Niner because she only has 9 fingers) and her adoptive father and sister. There was lots of suspence to keep the reader turning the pages. Moral of the story- you don't need to have somebody's genes to take after them.

[WCPL Teens · Rating 4 out of 5]

At 12, Macey is just beginning to discover who she is. Adopted at a young age, she has never known her origins or why she's missing a thumb. Why would her white parents want to adopt a mixed-race baby anyway? And when her adoptive mother suddenly takes off, Macy wonders if it's her fault and looks for clues that she's coming back. So when she finds a locket on her front steps, she thinks it's a message from her mom; instead, it leads her and her friends to some shady characters.

[Adriana · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I first read this book I thought It was incredible! I love every detail of it like you are living her life! She tells her feelings and how It Is to be adopted. She feels not loved and not cared for but the truth is she really is. I could read this book over and over again and not get tired of it.

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

When twelve-year-old Macey discovers a locket on her front step, she is certain she has found a link to her mother (who has been gone for almost a year). Interesting story about the love between a young girl and her adoptive family.

[Renee · Rating 4 out of 5]

A heartfelt story about belonging.