An exciting adventure.
On the brink of dystopia, a girl and a mechanical dragon help defend democracy in an alternate future Washington, D.C.
Sassy prep schooler Prudence Wu smuggles banned media into Incorporated territory in order to supplement her meager scholarship. Though there are warnings of wyverns, war machines used during the Partition Wars, Pru cons her way past Barricade walls during a job and ends up on the run. A chance encounter with a frightening beast leads to her waking in her dorm with a blacked-out memory and a dragon mech imprinted on her mind. In anime-like fashion, with the help of her well-connected best friend and highly placed allies, Pru reluctantly agrees to pilot the dragon Rebelwing. The author deftly flies between levity and heartbreak, cracking jokes and inserting astute historical and political commentary into a setting where survivors of wars past struggle with fears for the future. Interludes featuring student chat boards and newsfeeds offer a fuller picture of events, however sometimes they are jarring, especially when they appear in the middle of action scenes. This will appeal to fans of mecha anime; young, fumbling romance; and stories about superintelligent teens trying the save the world. Prudence is ethnically Chinese, and the diverse supporting cast includes Korean, Latinx, and queer characters.
An exciting adventure. (Science fiction. 13-17)Pub Date: Feb. 25, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-3509-3
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Razorbill/Penguin
Review Posted Online: Nov. 18, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2019
In his first novel translated into English, Herrndorf sits squarely and triumphantly at the intersection of literary tall...
Social misfits hit the Autobahn.
Mike Klingenberg has just finished another boring, socially awkward year in middle school and is staring down a solitary two-week stint at home, thanks to his mother’s latest round of rehab and his father’s “business trip” with a suspiciously attractive personal assistant. Just as he’s watering the lawn, imagining himself lord of a very small manor in suburban Berlin, class reject Tschick shows up in a “borrowed” old Soviet-era car, and the boys hatch a plan to hit the road. Mike’s rich interior life—he meditates on beauty and the meaning of life and spins self-mocking fantasies of himself as a great essayist—hasn’t translated well to the flirtatious physical swagger required by eighth grade. Tschick, meanwhile, is a badly dressed Russian immigrant who often shows up to school reeking of alcohol and who is also given to profound leaps of psychological insight. Their road trip (destination: Wallachia, a German euphemism for “the middle of nowhere”; also a region of Romania) is peopled by unexpected, often bizarre, largely benign characters who deepen Mike’s appreciation for humanity and life. Each episode in the boys’ journey grows more outrageous, leading readers to wonder how far they’ll go before coming to a literal screeching (and squealing) halt.
In his first novel translated into English, Herrndorf sits squarely and triumphantly at the intersection of literary tall tale and coming-of-age picaresque. (Fiction. 14-17)Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-545-48180-9
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Levine/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Nov. 1, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
IN THE NEWS
Ever respectful of the capacity of its readers, this series offers a satisfying conclusion of potential rather than a neatly...
This exhilarating finale to the dystopian Legend trilogy delivers on the promises of the genre without ever being predictable about details.
June and Day are finally on the right side of the law, but nothing’s gotten any easier. June, the former soldier, is now one of three Princeps-Elect, next in line to lead the Senate. Day, “most-wanted-criminal-turned-national-hero,” is now the face of popular support for the young Elector. The future’s dazzlingly bright, right? In fact, from their high perches, June and Day can see everything about to go horrifyingly wrong. The Elector knows the Colonies are about to invade, and he thinks a plague cure will save the day—a cure he’s convinced they’ll discover by experimenting on Day’s brother, Eden. Day will never let the Republic have his brother again; he barely got Eden back alive after the first time they took him for medical experiments. On the other hand, since Day is dying, it’s not clear what he can do for Eden or the Republic. Brief international travel expands the worldbuilding of this universe: June and Day had encountered the capitalist dystopia of the Colonies in Prodigy (2012), while June here encounters the seemingly more idyllic society-as-game of Ross City, Antarctica. A civilization run as if it were “The Sims” is intriguing, and it’s disappointing that June spends little time there, but there’s plenty of betrayal and action to resolve back in the Republic.
Ever respectful of the capacity of its readers, this series offers a satisfying conclusion of potential rather than a neatly wrapped denouement . (Science fiction. 13-16)Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-399-25677-6
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: Oct. 1, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2013
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