Ann Halam

Stand-alone novels

The Haunting of Jessica Raven — (1993) Young adult. Publisher: On holiday in France, Jessica sees ghosts in the dungeons of a chateau — a group of ragged Jewish children who hid there during the World War II. She only discovers their identity when she meets the young man who was their leader — a ghostly presence trapped in time by a terrible betrayal.

The Fear Man — (1995) Young adult.

The Powerhouse: A Horror Story — (1997) Young adult.

Crying in the Dark — (1998) Young adult.

The Shadow on the Stairs — (2000) Young adult. Publisher: This book is suitable for reluctant readers of 13-16 with a reading age of eight years. It is printed on cream paper, which is proven to be more restful on the eye. The font is specially designed to encourage a smooth and easy read. There are frequent page breaks, short, headed chapters and illustrations on almost every page. A wide range of specialists, including children themselves, have read and commented on the book prior to publication.

Don't Open Your Eyes — (2000) Young adult. Publisher: What lies beyond the grave for Martin, the 15-year-old killed joyriding, and for Diesel, the girl who has befriended him and his brother? This is a horror story that shows Ann Halam at her spine-chilling, challenging best.

Dr. Franklin's Island — (2001) Young adult. Publisher: Semi, Miranda, and Arnie are part of a group of 50 British Young Conservationists on their way to a wildlife conservation station deep in the rain forests of Ecuador. After a terrifying mid-air disaster and subsequent crash, these three are the sole survivors, stranded together on a deserted tropical island. Or so they think. Semi, Miranda, and Arnie stumble into the hands of Dr. Franklin, a mad scientist who’s been waiting for them, eager to use them as specimens for his experiments in genetic engineering.

Dr. Franklin’s Island

Dr. Franklin’s Island, by Ann Halam (who also writes as Gwyneth Jones), is a YA updating of The Island of Dr. Moreau. In this version, three teenagers survive a plane crash and wash up on a tropical island.

It is not a spoiler to say that the two girls in the story, Miranda and Semirah, or “Semi” as she calls herself, become victims of genetic manipulation. That’s on the back cover of the book. The suspense is not whether they will escape before the evil Dr. Franklin completes his experiments on them; it is whether they will be able to retain their humanity once he is finished.

Dr. Franklin’s Island is a quick read, about two hundred fifty pages. The action starts on Page 8. Semirah, Arnie and Miranda wash up on the beach after the plane ditches into the ocean. The first few chapters are spent addressing survival and adjusting to the emotional devastation. Miranda, whose parents are anthropologists, emerges as a natural leader. With her guidance they build a shelter and set a signal fire. Arnie begins building a raft. One day when the girls have left camp, they come back to find Arnie and the raft gone. Soon after that, a chance discovery leads Semi and Miranda to the secret compound hidden in the island’s dormant caldera. They think they are rescued. They are wrong.

Dr. Franklin is a scientist and a madman, focused with tunnel vision on his experiments with transgenetics. It’s clear he has tampered with animals and humans already, as the girls see when his assistant, Dr. Skinner, leads them through a menagerie of cruelly humanized animals. Franklin says his experiments injecting human DNA into animals have gone as far as they can go. He plans to try the reverse, and Miranda and Semi are his latest test subjects. One will be a bird and one will be a fish. He will allow them to choose who will be which.

Halam includes just enough science to let us suspend disbelief. She describes the compound and shows us one failed escape attempt, making it plausible that the girls cannot get away. As the treatments start, both girls struggle to comfort each other and keep each other strong. This is a strong and touching part of the book. How do powerless prisoners maintain their spirit, their will, in the face of complete oppression? As Semi watches, Miranda gradually becomes more avian. Miranda is taken away, and one day Semi finds herself in a large saltwater tank.

...I look more or less like a manta ray, the creature they call a devilfish. Real manta rays can get to be six meters or more across. They’re nonviolent, but if they are badly provoked, they can leap out of the ocean and even crush a small fishing boat. Or so the legend says, in the Caribbean. I’m not as big as that. I wish I was. Then I wish Dr. Franklin would come in here for a swim. I would leap on him and crush him against the tiles. But I’m only a ray fish the size of a flattened teenager.

Not a lot of time is devoted to Dr. Franklin’s backstory, or to that of his conflicted assistant. Franklin’s character is revealed well enough by his treatment of the girls. The story is suspenseful, with some unusual twists on the usual trapped-by-a-madman story and good action sequences when they are needed.

Dr. Franklin’s Island is about the loyalty of friends and how we find courage when we are in the deepest despair. Halam raises questions about ethics, compassion and courage, in a suspenseful story that isn’t preachy. This is a book you and your twelve-year-old could read together and both enjoy. —Marion Deeds

Taylor Five — (2002) Young adult. Publisher: A gripping, deeply moving adventure raises startling questions about what it means to be human. Taylor Walker seems like any ordinary 14-year-old. Ordinary — if you overlook the fact that she lives on the island of Borneo, on a primate reserve run by her parents, and knows how to survive in the jungle. Obviously, Tay isn’t just like everyone else. But she is like one other person. She’s exactly like one other person. Tay is a clone, one of only five in the world, and her clone mother is Pam Taylor, a brilliant scientist. When rebels attack the reserve, Tay escapes with her younger brother and Uncle, an exceptionally intelligent orangutan. As they flee through the jungle, Tay must look within to find her strength: Pam’s DNA, tempered by Taylor’s extraordinary life. And she looks to Uncle for guidance — for Tay knows that the uncanny bond between Uncle and herself is the key to their survival.

Finders Keepers — (2004) Young adult. Publisher: There's something spooky about the little statue Val found with her dad — with it's blood red eyes and the voice Val hears in her head, telling her secret things about the future. And the statue is always right. But can a spooky statue tell Val how to get her family out of really bad money trouble? A supernatural thriller from a great storyteller.

Siberia — (2005) Young adult. Publisher: When Sloe was tiny, her Papa disappeared and she and her mama went to live in a prison camp in the snowy north, in a time and place when there are no more wild animals. Mama’s crime: teaching science, and her dedication to the hope that the lost animal species can be reborn. To Sloe, Mama’s secret work is magic, as enchanting as Mama’s tales of a bright city across the ice where they will be free. Years later, Sloe is sent to a prison school, and Mama disappears. At 13, Sloe escapes, pursued by a mysterious man. With only hope to keep her going, Sloe sets out on a solitary 1000-mile journey. But she is not truly alone for Mama left Sloe a gift: the seeds of five missing species and the knowledge to bring them to life.

The Visitor — (2006) Young adult. Publisher: There's something going on at Experiment House. Whispers. Flashlights. Secrets. But nobody tells Tom anything. He's just the fat kid who files stuff, and he's got nothing to do but eat, and dream about eating. And then something escapes from Experiment House. Something hungry. Something starving. Something that understands Tom... This is a supernatural thriller that crackles with originality.

Snakehead — (2007) Young adult. Publisher: Perseus, the god-touched of Zeus and a mortal princess, takes his easy life on the island of Serifos for granted, but he knows he lives in troubled times. First the gods, now the politicians, send trouble rumbling across land and sea. When a beautiful stranger, a fugitive from another disaster zone, arrives on the island, Perseus is smitten. But Andromeda isn’t all she seems. She must die to save her people, and a stunning, world-changing discovery will die with her unless Perseus abandons everything to confront the Medusa quest.