Whipping Boy + Blade Runner with a sprinkling of The Hunger Games (plus, of course, a dash of A Tale of Two Cities) = a...
Sixteen-year-old Syd is a good guy; but he’s “proxy” to a “patron,” so Syd has to pay for someone else’s crimes.
In a post-apocalyptic, near future, gay teen Sydney Carton was a “swampcat” orphan from the eastern wastes of what was once America. The Benevolent Society rescued him, named him after the Dickens character and charged him for the rescue as well as his future education. (Two other orphans are named Tom Sawyer and Atticus Finch.) To repay that debt, they assigned him to be a proxy for Knox Brindle, whose father runs the powerful SecuriTech company. Whenever Knox acts up, Syd is punished, sometimes violently. When Knox’s antics kill a girl, Syd’s sentenced to years of hard labor on top of the debt he still owes. Fed up, Syd escapes and accidentally comes face to face with Knox, who’s beginning to wonder if he isn’t the one who owes a debt to his proxy. As the boys avoid the Guardians, they discover that the secret to forgiving everyone’s debts may be in Syd’s blood. Accidental Adventures author London drops his first initial for his teen debut, a smart, stylish science-fiction thriller that deftly weaves big issues like guilt, accidents of birth, redemption and commerce into a page-turning read.
Whipping Boy + Blade Runner with a sprinkling of The Hunger Games (plus, of course, a dash of A Tale of Two Cities) = a treat for teen SF fans. (Science fiction. 12 & up)Pub Date: June 18, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-399-25776-6
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: April 2, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2013
PROFILES
An auspicious ending may seem a bit unlikely to some, but this novel has many appealing aspects that will draw readers in.
Fifteen-year-old Zeke gets a job and becomes involved with community organizers who aim to unionize local food-service workers in this novel in verse for reluctant readers.
Zeke hates their lives in the city with Paul, his alcoholic mom’s abusive boyfriend, a hypocritical Christian, and he misses his old home in small-town Wisconsin. Spurred to action by the idea of making enough money for them to move back, he takes a job at Casa de Pizza, where he comes to understand the desperate circumstances many of his minimum-wage–earning co-workers face. Zeke keeps the job secret, fearing Paul will try to steal his earnings. Pagelong free-verse poems evocatively describe Zeke’s experiences and quickly propel the story forward. The dynamics between the employees at Casa de Pizza (Zeke and several others are white, Timothy is black, Hannah is originally from Oaxaca) will be recognizable to teens who’ve worked in food service. Readers will easily sympathize with the all-too-true-to-life situations with which the characters are coping—racism and sexual harassment, Zeke’s awful home life, and a co-worker’s eviction with her children among them. Though short, this story develops the characters’ personalities, sketches in the history of the labor movement, and includes a subdued romantic subplot, effectively balancing these various elements.
An auspicious ending may seem a bit unlikely to some, but this novel has many appealing aspects that will draw readers in. (Fiction. 12-18)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5383-8260-8
Page Count: 202
Publisher: West 44 Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A well-researched and deeply moving portrait of an iconic moment in U.S. history.
A free-verse treatment of the killing of four college students during campus protests over the Vietnam War.
College campuses were often flashpoints in the struggle against the United States’ involvement in the Vietnam War. In May 1970, protestors at Kent State University in Ohio were met by the Ohio National Guard, culminating in the deaths of four unarmed college students and injuries to nine others. The university and the small town surrounding it were all affected by the escalating tensions and disagreement over how to handle the issues. The governor’s strict approach was welcomed by some but resisted by many on campus. Each of the deceased students is described in detail, including how they came to be in the line of fire. Readers hear from a guardsman and a town resident as well as students, their voices showing how perspectives differed depending on individuals’ roles. Especially compelling are the words of Black students, many of whom stayed away from the demonstration, believing, correctly, that the guardsmen had live ammunition. The structure serves to re-create the taut atmosphere of the days leading up to the tragedy, and various perspectives are represented by different fonts and typeface, furthering the sense of polarization. The extensive author’s note extends the narrative, engaging readers in the author’s process and the story’s impact.
A well-researched and deeply moving portrait of an iconic moment in U.S. history. (Verse novel. 12-18)Pub Date: April 21, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-338-35628-1
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2020
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