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Book Reviews - "Smallville" Young Adults Series

Smallville: Buried Secrets

Writer: Susan Colon

Published by: Little, Brown, and Company (June 2003)

Reviewed by: Aaron Thall

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Lana believes that a new message from Whitney might be a marriage proposal, leaving her torn between her old feelings for him and her budding feeling towards Clark. But as Clark moves to tell her how he feels, Whitney arrives back in town for a week. The end result estranges Lana and Clark.

Meanwhile, a substitute Spanish teacher, Ms. Sanchez, is making quite a splash. She can help anyone relax, by easing their minds about what's troubling them... WITHOUT being told what it is. Clark and Chloe soon learn that she was nearly killed the day of the meteor shower, and that she's been given the ability to read the minds of anyone stressed out.

Despite the danger to his secret, Clark finds himself developing a crush on his new teacher, but there's a serious problem... Lex is infatuated with her as well, and he's discovered her powers. Will Lex finally discover Clark's secret, or will Clark lose control of his temper and accidentally kill his friend?

Story - 2: It's always a nice change of pace when a freak of the week isn't insane or out to kill anybody, but it had a problem all it's own... It means that the action in the story has to come from another source. In this case, random accidents and bad weather. It makes for... a rather dull read. There's no drama. We know Lex won't learn the truth. We KNOW Clark won't lose control enough to hurt Lex. Utterly pointless.

Also grating is that the Lana and Whitney plot vanishes early in the novel, despite how important it is to the proceedings. An inexcusable blunder. You do NOT go through the trouble of bringing back a written-out character just to ignore them.

The only thing that really saves this story from a completely negative rating is the fallout from the microsecond that Clark loses his temper. All at once, we see every fear the Kents have nearly come to life. His father's faith in him is shaken, Martha is terrified, and Clark is so thrown that he briefly stops using his powers even for chores.

All in all, an incredibly pointless novel.

Cover Art - 2: The front is still pointless, but at least there's a hint of the Clark/Lex confrontation on the back.