A script-ready story with blockbuster potential.
As the government harvests young people for energy and experimentation, one group of teens fights to reclaim their bodies—and tries not to lose their minds in the process.
In a futuristic, dystopian society run by an Overseer reminiscent of President Donald Trump (or perhaps Boris Johnson since the debut author is Scottish), there are the poor, less privileged Regulars and the cyborg Altereds, whose money buys them status and a better, bioengineered body. To sustain the Alts’ high-tech lifestyle and bodies, the government harvests energy from and experiments on inmates in the death row prison, the Loop. Inmate Luka Kane, 16, a Regular who was imprisoned for an undisclosed crime, narrates this taut, SF thriller and trilogy opener. Following thorough descriptions of society’s ideologies and Luka’s intense situation is nonstop action. Rumors of an uprising and the unexplained shutdown of Happy, the World Government’s operating system, give Luka and fellow inmates—all of whom have features their society deems imperfect—the chance to break out. In an even more hostile environment on the outside, they fight for independence amid violence, murder, and unexpected twists and turns. Readers must figure out ever changing government controls along with Luka; one of these open-ended surprises sets the scene for the next volume. Luka has dark skin, and the cast is ethnically diverse; Alts are White.
A script-ready story with blockbuster potential. (Dystopian. 14-18)Pub Date: April 7, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-338-58930-6
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Chicken House/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2020
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head.
The finely drawn characters capture readers’ attention in this debut.
Autumn and Phineas, nicknamed Finny, were born a week apart; their mothers are still best friends. Growing up, Autumn and Finny were like peas in a pod despite their differences: Autumn is “quirky and odd,” while Finny is “sweet and shy and everyone like[s] him.” But in eighth grade, Autumn and Finny stop being friends due to an unexpected kiss. They drift apart and find new friends, but their friendship keeps asserting itself at parties, shared holiday gatherings and random encounters. In the summer after graduation, Autumn and Finny reconnect and are finally ready to be more than friends. But on August 8, everything changes, and Autumn has to rely on all her strength to move on. Autumn’s coming-of-age is sensitively chronicled, with a wide range of experiences and events shaping her character. Even secondary characters are well-rounded, with their own histories and motivations.
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head. (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: April 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4022-7782-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away.
A Mexican American boy takes on heavy responsibilities when his family is torn apart.
Mateo’s life is turned upside down the day U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents show up unsuccessfully seeking his Pa at his New York City bodega. The Garcias live in fear until the day both parents are picked up; his Pa is taken to jail and his Ma to a detention center. The adults around Mateo offer support to him and his 7-year-old sister, Sophie, however, he knows he is now responsible for caring for her and the bodega as well as trying to survive junior year—that is, if he wants to fulfill his dream to enter the drama program at the Tisch School of the Arts and become an actor. Mateo’s relationships with his friends Kimmie and Adam (a potential love interest) also suffer repercussions as he keeps his situation a secret. Kimmie is half Korean (her other half is unspecified) and Adam is Italian American; Mateo feels disconnected from them, less American, and with worries they can’t understand. He talks himself out of choosing a safer course of action, a decision that deepens the story. Mateo’s self-awareness and inner monologue at times make him seem older than 16, and, with significant turmoil in the main plot, some side elements feel underdeveloped. Aleman’s narrative joins the ranks of heart-wrenching stories of migrant families who have been separated.
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-7595-5605-8
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
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