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1994-1999, Ages 10 and Up
Gather round and I’ll tell you the tale of a teen who comes to realize her identity through her secret ability to shape-shift.
(3/18/16)
Gather round and I’ll tell you the tale of a teen who comes to realize her identity through her secret ability to shape-shift.
(3/18/16)
The memory’s a bit vague, but I think it was around this time in high school that I learned of this story. And while it has nothing to do exactly to this month’s signature holiday, it does take place primarily in Ireland, so I figured: why not discuss it now? It was the second book of the series that I picked up first in the library; and of course, I had to find the first book beforehand so that I could follow along. In retrospect, I believe I found it at a good time in my life. Though I was a bit older than the protagonist at the time of my first reading, the story still resonates with me to this day, not only because of its fantasy elements, but because of the symbolism it offers in relation to both the hardships and adventures of growing up.
Each book is episodic, but they all intertwine in overall plot. Switchers centers on Tess, a young teenager who is what’s called a Switcher, one who has the power to shape-shift into any animal at will. In the first book, she has told no one of her ability up to this point and typically uses it as a brief escape from normal human life. But one day, she is approached by a boy named Kevin, who has been observing Tess for some time and happens to be a Switcher as well. Kevin reveals to Tess that every Switcher will permanently lose their power once they reach the age of fifteen, and whatever form a Switcher is in at such time will remain that Switcher’s form for the rest of their life—and Kevin’s birthday is only days away. Moreover, he insists that she, a fellow Switcher, is the only one who can help him to stop the mysterious increasing cold that is threatening Ireland and the rest of Northern Hemisphere. In Midnight’s Choice, Tess meets another Switcher named Martin, who, rather than facing the pain of reality, decides to flee from it by retreating into the form of a deadly creature that feels no remorse or weakness; Tess is left to face him and his darkness without the aid and companionship of Kevin. And in Wild Blood, Tess, while visiting her uncle and his family in the country, is about to turn fifteen herself and is agonizing over what shape to take for the rest of her life. But when her young cousins suddenly disappear in the woods, Tess must set aside her inner turmoil and find them before both they and her abilities are lost forever.
To begin with, the chemistry between Tess and Kevin evolves beautifully, despite a rough start in their relationship, as they become a foil for one another. A significantly fascinating aspect of Tess’s character is how closed-minded she is at times, not wanting to believe in what hasn’t been proven to her and often afraid to venture out of her comfort zone. But Kevin opens Tess’s eyes to greater possibilities by encouraging her to explore parts of the animal world that she never had before. It’s worth mentioning here that much of the splendor of this tale comes from the exploration of the minds of the animals the main characters become. Thompson gives readers vivid portrayals of the consciousness of numerous creatures, such as rats, owls, and dolphins, describing them as if they were human, but on a level both fundamentally and unattainably diverse. Upon learning that Tess has never been a goat, Kevin is surprised and convinces her to try it; the experience turns out to be much better than she expects:
“Tess was surprised by some of the things that she was learning. She found that it was a myth that goats would eat anything. On the contrary, her senses of smell and taste were so refined that she could tell in an instant whether a moth had laid eggs on a leaf or a bird dropping had landed there, even a month ago. She would leave anything that was the slightest bit tainted where it was on the tree, and eat carefully around it. She found that she had a rich and rare sense of her own independence. [. . .] [S]tronger than any every other emotion in a goat’s heart is the love of freedom. Even here, amid the luxury of the rich lands where food would never be scarce, her goat soul longed for the high, craggy places of the world, places that are of no use to mankind but are the wild, windy kingdoms of goats.
[. . .]
Kevin turned to Tess, and the sly, mischievous glint was in his eye again. Tess knew that for the first time, she was returning it. Together they slipped through the fence as if it wasn’t there and strolled out into the field.” (Pg. 105-106)
[. . .]
Tess and Kevin, communicating by a combination of goat gestures and rat images, were having a ball. Three policemen and a gathering of neighborhood residents were red in the face with exertion and fury. The goats dodged and scrambled, jumped walls, and pushed through hedges. They split up without hesitation when they had to and met up again as soon as they could. They avoided traps with uncanny and infuriating ease.
A local farmer had been called in to help and he had arrived full of cool confidence with his two best sheepdogs. But ten minutes after he had arrived, the farmer was coaxing the terrified creatures back into his Land Rover and wondering if they would ever work again.
[. . .]
[. . .] [The goats] swung at full speed into the yard at the side of the house and veered in through the open door of the woodshed. A few seconds later, Tess and Kevin emerged laughing, their eyes still shining with mischief.” (Switchers: Pg. 110-111)
Tess, on the other hand, acts as a link to humanity for Kevin, who has never felt right living among humans; as an animal (especially a rat), he always knows his place, for better or worse, because animals don’t lie or pretend as humans do. Upon meeting Lizzie—an eccentric old woman and former Switcher herself —Kevin quickly butts heads with her, but Tess is able to see that they are more alike than they realize:
“‘That’s teenagers for you,’ Lizzie went on, her voice rising in tone to near hysteria. ‘They hasn’t even started and they’s had enough. They only wants to sit in front of the TV or have a good time for theirselves being jackdaws and puppies and toads. They’s always had enough, even before they’s had what they come for!’
Kevin wheeled on her, [. . .] ‘And what about stupid old women? Who invites . . . who invite people to visit them and drag them across Dublin and then tell them to mind their manners so they can stand there and abuse them?’
‘You hasn’t any manners to mind!’ shouted Lizzie.
‘Listen to who’s talking!’ yelled Kevin, and he stormed out. He was halfway up the little path before Tess caught up with him. [. . .]
‘Wait, Kevin,’ she said.
‘What for?’
‘I want to talk to you for a minute.’
‘Talk?’ he said. ‘That’s all people ever do. Talk, talk, talk. They talk so much they get on each other’s nerves and what happens then? They have to bloody well talk about it!’
‘Don’t be like that, Kevin.’
‘Why not? What’s the point of all that talking, eh? Now you want to talk about that stupid old woman, and we wouldn’t be here in the first place if it weren’t for her talking too much.’
[. . .]
‘Don’t you see?’ she said. ‘The old woman is like you. She doesn’t understand people, either. She doesn’t know how to behave.’
Kevin turned away from her. ‘It just proves my point, doesn’t it?’ he said. ‘It’s a waste of time trying to understand people.’ But Tess knew he was disarmed now.
[. . .]
‘Do you know something, Kevin?’ she said.
‘What?’
‘You care a lot more about people than you think you do.’
‘Oh, do I?’ His voice was full of contempt. ‘Why do you think that?’
‘Because if you really didn’t care, if you really thought people were so useless, then they couldn’t upset you, could they? Because you’d never expect anything better.’” (Switchers: Pg. 92-94)
With each adventure, Tess grows stronger as a Switcher, but faces ever increasing struggles as a human as well, further emphasized by her inability to choose a final form. It is not only the choice of what creature suits her best that she must consider, or even the thought of disappearing from her parents’ lives with no explanation. It is the fear of regret and lost chances that haunts her, the knowledge that the future is inevitable, and she can’t see herself in it, nor can she see a life that will give her unconditional happiness. But face this reality, she must, like any other growing human being:
“[Tess] thought of the land again, the fresh green beauty of the woods and the greed of the people who wanted to destroy them in order to line their own pockets. She didn’t want to be an adult in a society like that, where no one cared about anything except money. She envisioned the world as a gray barren place, where nothing lived except human beings and nothing grew except the food they ate. Like a plague on the earth. Like locusts, they destroyed everything before them. Like locusts, they could see no further than their own, immediate greed.
She wouldn’t join them. Better to be an animal, even a greedy one like a pig or a rat. At least they didn’t pretend to care. People were worse. People were hypocrites. [. . .]
[. . .]
A sudden gust of wind rattled the window hard, and Tess sat up with a start. There was something [that Lizzie] had said. What was it? Tess concentrated and, obligingly, the words came to her.
‘Does we believe what we see, or does we see what we believe?’
[. . .]
Tess knew now that the chips were down. She could still cop out, of course. [. . .] But [. . .] it would be an admission that her fear had defeated her. And suddenly she realized that she didn’t need Lizzie to tell her what to do. The truth, plain and simple, was that if anyone had a chance of finding those children it was she. [. . .]
After tonight her powers would be gone. The events of the day were moving too fast, robbing her of time and space to think, and it looked now as though she wasn’t going to have time to make a considered choice of what to be. But perhaps it didn’t matter. Perhaps it didn’t help to have time to think. Up until now all the thinking in the world hadn’t helped her arrive at a decision.
[. . .] For the next few hours she still had her Switching powers. If she did not use them while she could, she might spend the rest of her life regretting it.
With a feeling of courage returning, of becoming herself again after a long absence, Tess flung open the window.” (Wild Blood: Pg. 168-171)
Too old to be utterly sheltered anymore, yet too young to be fully understanding of real life, teens are often faced with choices that could potentially alter their way of thinking and their lives in turn, something they may not want to admit is daunting for them. They may feel caught at that important threshold between childhood and adulthood, as once they go forward it may be next to impossible to go back. But this can also be an asset: teens can begin to explore the world and learn to live in it while their minds and hearts are still open enough to embrace its joys and glories that adults may have forgotten or disapproved of. I believe that, through Switchers, Thompson portrays these struggles in a very authentic and poignant manner even as the supernatural is occurring all around.
CREDITS:
Special thanks to KTWH 99.5 Two Harbors Community Radio. All images, audio, and links belong to their respective owners; no copyright infringement is intended.
All excerpts are from the novels, Switchers (1999 Hyperion paperback edition) and Wild Blood (2002 Hyperion paperback edition) by Kate Thompson
MAIN THEME:
“The Call” – Briand Morrison and Roxann Berglund
https://www.briandmorrison.com/
https://www.facebook.com/BriandMorrisonGuitar/
https://www.youtube.com/user/briandmorrison
Each book is episodic, but they all intertwine in overall plot. Switchers centers on Tess, a young teenager who is what’s called a Switcher, one who has the power to shape-shift into any animal at will. In the first book, she has told no one of her ability up to this point and typically uses it as a brief escape from normal human life. But one day, she is approached by a boy named Kevin, who has been observing Tess for some time and happens to be a Switcher as well. Kevin reveals to Tess that every Switcher will permanently lose their power once they reach the age of fifteen, and whatever form a Switcher is in at such time will remain that Switcher’s form for the rest of their life—and Kevin’s birthday is only days away. Moreover, he insists that she, a fellow Switcher, is the only one who can help him to stop the mysterious increasing cold that is threatening Ireland and the rest of Northern Hemisphere. In Midnight’s Choice, Tess meets another Switcher named Martin, who, rather than facing the pain of reality, decides to flee from it by retreating into the form of a deadly creature that feels no remorse or weakness; Tess is left to face him and his darkness without the aid and companionship of Kevin. And in Wild Blood, Tess, while visiting her uncle and his family in the country, is about to turn fifteen herself and is agonizing over what shape to take for the rest of her life. But when her young cousins suddenly disappear in the woods, Tess must set aside her inner turmoil and find them before both they and her abilities are lost forever.
To begin with, the chemistry between Tess and Kevin evolves beautifully, despite a rough start in their relationship, as they become a foil for one another. A significantly fascinating aspect of Tess’s character is how closed-minded she is at times, not wanting to believe in what hasn’t been proven to her and often afraid to venture out of her comfort zone. But Kevin opens Tess’s eyes to greater possibilities by encouraging her to explore parts of the animal world that she never had before. It’s worth mentioning here that much of the splendor of this tale comes from the exploration of the minds of the animals the main characters become. Thompson gives readers vivid portrayals of the consciousness of numerous creatures, such as rats, owls, and dolphins, describing them as if they were human, but on a level both fundamentally and unattainably diverse. Upon learning that Tess has never been a goat, Kevin is surprised and convinces her to try it; the experience turns out to be much better than she expects:
“Tess was surprised by some of the things that she was learning. She found that it was a myth that goats would eat anything. On the contrary, her senses of smell and taste were so refined that she could tell in an instant whether a moth had laid eggs on a leaf or a bird dropping had landed there, even a month ago. She would leave anything that was the slightest bit tainted where it was on the tree, and eat carefully around it. She found that she had a rich and rare sense of her own independence. [. . .] [S]tronger than any every other emotion in a goat’s heart is the love of freedom. Even here, amid the luxury of the rich lands where food would never be scarce, her goat soul longed for the high, craggy places of the world, places that are of no use to mankind but are the wild, windy kingdoms of goats.
[. . .]
Kevin turned to Tess, and the sly, mischievous glint was in his eye again. Tess knew that for the first time, she was returning it. Together they slipped through the fence as if it wasn’t there and strolled out into the field.” (Pg. 105-106)
[. . .]
Tess and Kevin, communicating by a combination of goat gestures and rat images, were having a ball. Three policemen and a gathering of neighborhood residents were red in the face with exertion and fury. The goats dodged and scrambled, jumped walls, and pushed through hedges. They split up without hesitation when they had to and met up again as soon as they could. They avoided traps with uncanny and infuriating ease.
A local farmer had been called in to help and he had arrived full of cool confidence with his two best sheepdogs. But ten minutes after he had arrived, the farmer was coaxing the terrified creatures back into his Land Rover and wondering if they would ever work again.
[. . .]
[. . .] [The goats] swung at full speed into the yard at the side of the house and veered in through the open door of the woodshed. A few seconds later, Tess and Kevin emerged laughing, their eyes still shining with mischief.” (Switchers: Pg. 110-111)
Tess, on the other hand, acts as a link to humanity for Kevin, who has never felt right living among humans; as an animal (especially a rat), he always knows his place, for better or worse, because animals don’t lie or pretend as humans do. Upon meeting Lizzie—an eccentric old woman and former Switcher herself —Kevin quickly butts heads with her, but Tess is able to see that they are more alike than they realize:
“‘That’s teenagers for you,’ Lizzie went on, her voice rising in tone to near hysteria. ‘They hasn’t even started and they’s had enough. They only wants to sit in front of the TV or have a good time for theirselves being jackdaws and puppies and toads. They’s always had enough, even before they’s had what they come for!’
Kevin wheeled on her, [. . .] ‘And what about stupid old women? Who invites . . . who invite people to visit them and drag them across Dublin and then tell them to mind their manners so they can stand there and abuse them?’
‘You hasn’t any manners to mind!’ shouted Lizzie.
‘Listen to who’s talking!’ yelled Kevin, and he stormed out. He was halfway up the little path before Tess caught up with him. [. . .]
‘Wait, Kevin,’ she said.
‘What for?’
‘I want to talk to you for a minute.’
‘Talk?’ he said. ‘That’s all people ever do. Talk, talk, talk. They talk so much they get on each other’s nerves and what happens then? They have to bloody well talk about it!’
‘Don’t be like that, Kevin.’
‘Why not? What’s the point of all that talking, eh? Now you want to talk about that stupid old woman, and we wouldn’t be here in the first place if it weren’t for her talking too much.’
[. . .]
‘Don’t you see?’ she said. ‘The old woman is like you. She doesn’t understand people, either. She doesn’t know how to behave.’
Kevin turned away from her. ‘It just proves my point, doesn’t it?’ he said. ‘It’s a waste of time trying to understand people.’ But Tess knew he was disarmed now.
[. . .]
‘Do you know something, Kevin?’ she said.
‘What?’
‘You care a lot more about people than you think you do.’
‘Oh, do I?’ His voice was full of contempt. ‘Why do you think that?’
‘Because if you really didn’t care, if you really thought people were so useless, then they couldn’t upset you, could they? Because you’d never expect anything better.’” (Switchers: Pg. 92-94)
With each adventure, Tess grows stronger as a Switcher, but faces ever increasing struggles as a human as well, further emphasized by her inability to choose a final form. It is not only the choice of what creature suits her best that she must consider, or even the thought of disappearing from her parents’ lives with no explanation. It is the fear of regret and lost chances that haunts her, the knowledge that the future is inevitable, and she can’t see herself in it, nor can she see a life that will give her unconditional happiness. But face this reality, she must, like any other growing human being:
“[Tess] thought of the land again, the fresh green beauty of the woods and the greed of the people who wanted to destroy them in order to line their own pockets. She didn’t want to be an adult in a society like that, where no one cared about anything except money. She envisioned the world as a gray barren place, where nothing lived except human beings and nothing grew except the food they ate. Like a plague on the earth. Like locusts, they destroyed everything before them. Like locusts, they could see no further than their own, immediate greed.
She wouldn’t join them. Better to be an animal, even a greedy one like a pig or a rat. At least they didn’t pretend to care. People were worse. People were hypocrites. [. . .]
[. . .]
A sudden gust of wind rattled the window hard, and Tess sat up with a start. There was something [that Lizzie] had said. What was it? Tess concentrated and, obligingly, the words came to her.
‘Does we believe what we see, or does we see what we believe?’
[. . .]
Tess knew now that the chips were down. She could still cop out, of course. [. . .] But [. . .] it would be an admission that her fear had defeated her. And suddenly she realized that she didn’t need Lizzie to tell her what to do. The truth, plain and simple, was that if anyone had a chance of finding those children it was she. [. . .]
After tonight her powers would be gone. The events of the day were moving too fast, robbing her of time and space to think, and it looked now as though she wasn’t going to have time to make a considered choice of what to be. But perhaps it didn’t matter. Perhaps it didn’t help to have time to think. Up until now all the thinking in the world hadn’t helped her arrive at a decision.
[. . .] For the next few hours she still had her Switching powers. If she did not use them while she could, she might spend the rest of her life regretting it.
With a feeling of courage returning, of becoming herself again after a long absence, Tess flung open the window.” (Wild Blood: Pg. 168-171)
Too old to be utterly sheltered anymore, yet too young to be fully understanding of real life, teens are often faced with choices that could potentially alter their way of thinking and their lives in turn, something they may not want to admit is daunting for them. They may feel caught at that important threshold between childhood and adulthood, as once they go forward it may be next to impossible to go back. But this can also be an asset: teens can begin to explore the world and learn to live in it while their minds and hearts are still open enough to embrace its joys and glories that adults may have forgotten or disapproved of. I believe that, through Switchers, Thompson portrays these struggles in a very authentic and poignant manner even as the supernatural is occurring all around.
CREDITS:
Special thanks to KTWH 99.5 Two Harbors Community Radio. All images, audio, and links belong to their respective owners; no copyright infringement is intended.
All excerpts are from the novels, Switchers (1999 Hyperion paperback edition) and Wild Blood (2002 Hyperion paperback edition) by Kate Thompson
MAIN THEME:
“The Call” – Briand Morrison and Roxann Berglund
https://www.briandmorrison.com/
https://www.facebook.com/BriandMorrisonGuitar/
https://www.youtube.com/user/briandmorrison
EPISODE SONGS:
“Majestic Heart” – The Curellis
https://www.facebook.com/JakeSearlMusic
“Majestic Heart” – The Curellis
https://www.facebook.com/JakeSearlMusic
“Rince” – The Curellis
“Peaceful 5ths” – The Curellis
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