An exciting adventure with important messages about caring for our world.
Curious Jay and spirited Birch, young people in what was once Ontario, were eager to explore the ruined world they’d only heard about.
Fifty years ago, in 2123, humanity was nearly extinct; only pockets of civilization remained. Twenty-year-old Jay, a member of the guild of the Knowledge Seekers, was about to begin his first journey into the wider world. In this believable dystopian world, Knowledge Seekers were tasked with collecting and preserving knowledge from the Old World. They sought to learn from their ancestors’ mistakes and ensure humanity’s peaceful future. However, Jay’s first mission was derailed by a chance encounter with rebellious Elder Elm. Meanwhile, 19-year-old Birch, seeking her own adventure, left her fathers behind to set out after Jay, to whom she is “promised.” Although extreme weather and wild animals plagued their journeys, they each soon learned that humans were a far more dangerous threat. The Six, leaders of an “old-fashioned city-state,” wanted to use environmentally destructive technology that could return Earth to the brink of collapse. The easy-to-follow narrative switches between Birch’s and Jay’s perspectives in the year 2173 with their storylines half a century earlier. The engaging premise is full of poignant reminders that the greatest challenge humanity faces is itself; the climate change warnings are unsubtle but don’t detract from the steady pacing. Race in this world is an “antiquated” concept; Birch is racially ambiguous, and Jay has Nordic and Asian Indian ancestry.
An exciting adventure with important messages about caring for our world. (Dystopian. 16-adult)Pub Date: May 24, 2025
ISBN: 9781988989921
Page Count: 230
Publisher: Latitude 46
Review Posted Online: March 8, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2025
A thoughtful and thrilling story of life, death, and meaning.
Two teens train to be society-sanctioned killers in an otherwise immortal world.
On post-mortal Earth, humans live long (if not particularly passionate) lives without fear of disease, aging, or accidents. Operating independently of the governing AI (called the Thunderhead since it evolved from the cloud), scythes rely on 10 commandments, quotas, and their own moral codes to glean the population. After challenging Hon. Scythe Faraday, 16-year-olds Rowan Damisch and Citra Terranova reluctantly become his apprentices. Subjected to killcraft training, exposed to numerous executions, and discouraged from becoming allies or lovers, the two find themselves engaged in a fatal competition but equally determined to fight corruption and cruelty. The vivid and often violent action unfolds slowly, anchored in complex worldbuilding and propelled by political machinations and existential musings. Scythes’ journal entries accompany Rowan’s and Citra’s dual and dueling narratives, revealing both personal struggles and societal problems. The futuristic post–2042 MidMerican world is both dystopia and utopia, free of fear, unexpected death, and blatant racism—multiracial main characters discuss their diverse ethnic percentages rather than purity—but also lacking creativity, emotion, and purpose. Elegant and elegiac, brooding but imbued with gallows humor, Shusterman’s dark tale thrusts realistic, likable teens into a surreal situation and raises deep philosophic questions.
A thoughtful and thrilling story of life, death, and meaning. (Science fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: Nov. 29, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4424-7242-6
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 25, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2016
A thrilling alien-invasion novel based on a chillingly nefarious premise.
When a worldwide rain results in alien plant life taking over the Earth, three Canadian teens are the only ones strong enough to resist the invasion.
Anaya, Seth, and Petra have always felt different from their peers on their British Columbia island. Anaya has severe allergies that give her acne and perpetual congestion. Seth is a foster child with scars running up and down his arms. Although pretty and popular, Petra is allergic to water. None of the teens think much about the others until strange black plants begin sprouting all over town after a day of heavy rain—that somehow doesn’t trigger Petra’s water allergy. When the plants turn carnivorous, Petra, Anaya, and Seth are the only ones able to withstand their strange perfumes and their acidic interiors, and they realize they must have something more in common. And then Anaya’s botanist father reveals that the plants came from another planet—and they are in the process of colonizing the Earth. In this fast-paced thriller, Oppel spins a richly drawn, incredibly fascinating world. Beginning with the brilliantly unique premise of a botanical alien invasion, the plot unravels satisfyingly, building readers’ curiosity by creating 10 new questions for every answer given. The book’s one significant weakness is its lack of diversity. Other than Anaya, whose name implies she might be South Asian, the other characters present white.
A thrilling alien-invasion novel based on a chillingly nefarious premise. (Science fiction. 12-18)Pub Date: March 10, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5247-7300-7
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Dec. 7, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2020
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