Del-Del

Last updated
Del-Del
Del-Del cover.jpeg
Cover of the first edition of Del-Del
Author Victor Kelleher
Cover artistPeter Clarke
LanguageEnglish
Genre Young adult
Publisher Walker & Company
Publication date
1992
Publication place Australia
Media typePrint (Paperback)
Pages192 pp
ISBN 978-0-8027-8154-3

Del-Del is a psychological young adult novel written by Australian author Victor Kelleher and published in 1992. [1] It deals with themes of loss and apparent demonic possession.

Contents

Plot

Del-Del is narrated by Beth, a teenage girl whose younger brother, a child prodigy named Sam, begins exhibiting strange behavior on the anniversary of the death of their sister Laura. He begins to refer to himself as Del-Del, and acts out in increasingly destructive and harmful ways. Eventually the family begins to believe that he has become the victim of demonic possession, and seeks a variety of solutions. Eventually they successfully banish the Del-Del personality with the assistance of an exorcist, only to have it return once more, this time in the form of an alien consciousness inhabiting Sam's body. This being, also calling itself Del-Del, claims to be a traveler from the constellation Delphinus. Eventually it is determined that the various personalities of Del-Del are in fact products of Sam's overactive mind, the result of his inability to accept the loss of his sister.

Reception

Del-Del holds a rating of 3.7 out of 5 on GoodReads, [2] and was nominated for a Ditmar Award in the year that it was released. [3] Publishers Weekly criticized the book, calling it 'padded', and stated that "(the) pat resolution may not sit well with readers who continue to reach the novel's end." [4]

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References

  1. Kelleher, Victor (1992) Del-Del, Walker and Company, 978-0-8027-8154-3
  2. Del-Del at GoodReads
  3. "Locus Index to SF Awards - 1992 Ditmar Awards". Archived from the original on 2010-01-18. Retrieved 2013-03-18.
  4. Del-Del reviewed at Publishers Weekly, February 3, 1992