Hope of the Wasteland

A 12-year-old boy braves a treacherous post-apocalyptic world to track down his missing father in Watts’ debut middle-grade novel.

Huey was born a full century after global nuclear devastation and raised in a bunker. When his father is late returning from a supply run, Huey reluctantly leaves his secure home (“Inside, safe. Outside, dangerous”) to find him. It’s the first time he’s been on the blistering hot, desertlike surface alone; his first stop is the Square, a trading post he and his father frequent. The only answers he finds are from BRiN, a supercomputer from “the Before Time.” BRiN knows where Huey’s father is but will only tell him if he delivers a package to the “D’pot” a few days’ journey away. That package is fellow tween Hope, an “immaculate” who was not born, like numerous others, with physical mutations (courtesy of radioactive fallout). Huey’s sandy road ahead is rife with challenges, including merciless heat, sandstorms, giant insects, and a girl who clearly doesn’t want to go to the place he’s escorting her to. Watts caters to younger readers with this delightful adventure. While the story unfolds in a scary world teeming with menaces, the cast is dynamic and scenes never linger on violence. The adolescent hero, whose breezy first-person narration propels the narrative, is endearing. He sympathizes with all animals, including the colossal scorpions that he’s smart enough to avoid, and learns from his mistakes. Pop-culture nods are manifold, stemming from the nuclear blasts hitting in the mid-1980s; Huey, who always carries his Walkman (with Huey Lewis and the News’ album Sportson cassette), discovers new music outside the bunker. (Many characters are named after things directly referencing the 1980s, from clothing brands to a video game console.) While this novel ends with a gratifying resolution, a sequel is both possible and welcome.

This absorbing and electrifying dystopian tale will appeal to all ages.