THE STELLOW PROJECT

A pair of teenagers uncovers familial secrets after environmental terrorists wreak havoc on New York City. 

As a killer storm approaches Manhattan, Lilah Stellow's father send her and her sister, Flori, to the family's cabin upstate, promising to meet them there. Days pass, and her father never arrives, leaving the girls with nothing to hide behind when a mysterious agency takes them to a scientific compound that is isolated from the rest of the world and promises answers to their father's whereabouts. On this reserve, Lilah grows close to Daniel, the son of her father's greatest scientific rival. Together, the two teens dig into their parents' mutual past and hope to find answers to questions that have plagued them all their lives. The ensuing story is reasonably exciting but is bogged down by the book's high page count. The plot doesn't kick into high gear until Page 74, forcing readers to plow through a circuitous, overpopulated setup. Once events are truly underway, the book improves. Lilah has a solid emotional journey, one that Becker illuminates well. Some of the mystery elements are less gracefully handled, and the obligatory-feeling romance is only mildly diverting, however.

Rough spots in the plotting drag down picture-book author Becker’s debut for teens.