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Calliope Jones and The Last World Diver
College, grades, extracurriculars--who cares? Sixteen-year-old slacker Callie James would rather make robot creations and surf waves with her best friend Will. Then she discovers a mysterious glowing rod under the ocean surface, and her entire world turns upside down.
One, her hands start glowing (weird). Two, she can now control people (awkward). Three, she accidentally brings her robotics project to life. Classes were hard enough without her robot Nemo literally eating her homework.
Only the reclusive Dr. Ormandi knows the truth: Callie is a Luminaut (aka a light wizard) and it’s her destiny to reunite the shattered multiverse by collecting all the Light Cores (aka the glowstick of doom) in all the other worlds. To do this, she must repair the World Diver, the fifty-foot tall robot lurking in Dr. Ormandi’s basement hangar.
As Callie learns about her Luminaut powers, Nate crash lands into her life. He’s hot. Funny. Crazy about her. One problem: he’s technically dead. Oh, and he insists uniting the multiverse will destroy everything.
Pursued by murderous interdimensional phantoms and plagued by insecurities, Callie must protect her family and friends, while figuring out who to trust.
And all before a deadly, looming evil snuffs out her Light for good.
One, her hands start glowing (weird). Two, she can now control people (awkward). Three, she accidentally brings her robotics project to life. Classes were hard enough without her robot Nemo literally eating her homework.
Only the reclusive Dr. Ormandi knows the truth: Callie is a Luminaut (aka a light wizard) and it’s her destiny to reunite the shattered multiverse by collecting all the Light Cores (aka the glowstick of doom) in all the other worlds. To do this, she must repair the World Diver, the fifty-foot tall robot lurking in Dr. Ormandi’s basement hangar.
As Callie learns about her Luminaut powers, Nate crash lands into her life. He’s hot. Funny. Crazy about her. One problem: he’s technically dead. Oh, and he insists uniting the multiverse will destroy everything.
Pursued by murderous interdimensional phantoms and plagued by insecurities, Callie must protect her family and friends, while figuring out who to trust.
And all before a deadly, looming evil snuffs out her Light for good.
- GenresYoung Adult
245 pages, Paperback
First published April 20, 2021
1 person is currently reading
326 people want to read
About the author
Haylie Machado Hanson
2 books19 followersHi! I'm Haylie, and I write books! My debut novel, "Calliope Jones and The Last World Diver," released in January 2017. I am married and have one spawn, two fuzzy cats, and a silly corgi. I currently live wherever the Air Force tells me to, but I'll always be a Californian at heart. Follow me online at www.hayliemhanson.com, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/hayliemachadohanson, and on Instagram at @hayliemachadohanson.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
September 10, 2017
Beauty!
Beauty. Beauty. It's what I kept thinking as I read; as I closed the book for the night. I saw, and felt, artistry at work.
It's been a long time since I felt immersed in an author's world; actually involved in the story; actually IN the world. In fact, the last time was maybe never. But, by the power of this author's gorgeous writing, I endured slow-motion end-of-summer doldrums and later dragged myself to school and family meals right along with the story's eponymous hero, Calliope Jones. Lulled to calm before the storm.
I found the author's word choices perfectly apt and descriptive in wonderful ways; sights and smells, tastes and touch, the lights and noise of her world, so colorful, redolent, delicious; mundanely familiar and vividly real. It's like, phrase after phrase I'd clutch the book to my chest, close my eyes and re-enter her world to savor it all again; like recalling the layered flavors of a favorite childhood comfort food and beverage. Fun and evocative.
But, I couldn't pause. I couldn't stop and re-savor a moment of her world. I had to move on. Despite her storytelling's beauty, the author held me in suspense and eager to plunge deeper into her tale.
This book is the best example I've ever read of an author leveraging my fuller knowledge of the hero's fate -- fuller than the hero's own -- to yank me into the story, then through it, so I could satisfy my itch to learn the details of how things got where they're going.
She stuffed me with that fuller knowledge by starting the book with an intriguing flash-forward; a scene vague enough not to give everything away, but grandiose and packed with climactic, cinematic action. And, in it, I felt the hero's awe, her wonder, excitement, trepidation, and resolve.
Then the author tossed me out of the flash-forward , back to the story's start, back where it all began and, even knowing where I was headed, sort of, she drew me headlong and uncontrollably through the story, with hardly the sense of a page-flip, as the hero delved the mystery she'd stumbled on, dug out its secrets, and made sense of her discoveries, about herself, about her world.
And, through it all, I experienced her warring excitement and reluctance -- even refusal -- to accept her supposed destiny. She's her own girl, after all, Calliope Jones.
Anyway, I really liked this book, in case it didn't come across. I think you will too. I think ANY kid will.
Beauty. Beauty. It's what I kept thinking as I read; as I closed the book for the night. I saw, and felt, artistry at work.
It's been a long time since I felt immersed in an author's world; actually involved in the story; actually IN the world. In fact, the last time was maybe never. But, by the power of this author's gorgeous writing, I endured slow-motion end-of-summer doldrums and later dragged myself to school and family meals right along with the story's eponymous hero, Calliope Jones. Lulled to calm before the storm.
I found the author's word choices perfectly apt and descriptive in wonderful ways; sights and smells, tastes and touch, the lights and noise of her world, so colorful, redolent, delicious; mundanely familiar and vividly real. It's like, phrase after phrase I'd clutch the book to my chest, close my eyes and re-enter her world to savor it all again; like recalling the layered flavors of a favorite childhood comfort food and beverage. Fun and evocative.
But, I couldn't pause. I couldn't stop and re-savor a moment of her world. I had to move on. Despite her storytelling's beauty, the author held me in suspense and eager to plunge deeper into her tale.
This book is the best example I've ever read of an author leveraging my fuller knowledge of the hero's fate -- fuller than the hero's own -- to yank me into the story, then through it, so I could satisfy my itch to learn the details of how things got where they're going.
She stuffed me with that fuller knowledge by starting the book with an intriguing flash-forward; a scene vague enough not to give everything away, but grandiose and packed with climactic, cinematic action. And, in it, I felt the hero's awe, her wonder, excitement, trepidation, and resolve.
Then the author tossed me out of the flash-forward , back to the story's start, back where it all began and, even knowing where I was headed, sort of, she drew me headlong and uncontrollably through the story, with hardly the sense of a page-flip, as the hero delved the mystery she'd stumbled on, dug out its secrets, and made sense of her discoveries, about herself, about her world.
And, through it all, I experienced her warring excitement and reluctance -- even refusal -- to accept her supposed destiny. She's her own girl, after all, Calliope Jones.
Anyway, I really liked this book, in case it didn't come across. I think you will too. I think ANY kid will.
May 10, 2017
Interesting but not captivating.
Interesting but not captivating. Too much focus on Callie's teen drama not enough time on plot development. If there are more I will read them but only to see what happens to Callie since it ended in a cliff hanger. What does everyone else think?
Interesting but not captivating. Too much focus on Callie's teen drama not enough time on plot development. If there are more I will read them but only to see what happens to Callie since it ended in a cliff hanger. What does everyone else think?
September 17, 2017
What I liked about this book is Callie's relationship with her younger brother Ryan and older brother Joe. It seemed very authentic and funny. I also like Callie's initial cluelessness over her best friend's (Sam) developing romantic interest in her. Very sweet.
What I did not like about this book is a pet peeve of mine; the cliff-hanger, non-ending, requiring you to purchase the next book to find out how the story ends.
What I did not like about this book is a pet peeve of mine; the cliff-hanger, non-ending, requiring you to purchase the next book to find out how the story ends.
January 12, 2018
Fun book!
March 23, 2017
This was truly a great read. So much so I had to fight with my teenager over letting me finish before he took off with it. He tore thru it as well and now my other son is reading it and my daughter is patiently awaiting her turn.
February 18, 2017
Unique, refreshing characters
A refreshing fantasy with wonderfully unique characters. Impatiently looking forward to the next installment. The adventure has just gotten started.
A refreshing fantasy with wonderfully unique characters. Impatiently looking forward to the next installment. The adventure has just gotten started.
February 6, 2017
Calliope's story draws you in from the beginning and speeds up through the end. You definitely get a feel for the family and friend pressure she has, which only gets more complicated with her discoveries for an English paper. Definitely a book I would recommend for teens and adults. Looking forward to the next one!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews