Charming characters populate this fast, exuberant genre mashup.
In this debut YA thriller, a homeless teenager’s fortunes change on the eve of a zombie apocalypse.
Sixteen-year-old Madison Jacques, a homeless musician living in Boston, performs with the Reaper, her prized guitar, and stays in the boiler room of a condemned building. After years in miserable foster homes, Madison contentedly shares her life with rats and a blind harmonica player named Jeremiah Church. One night, a construction crew demolishes her building, upending her precarious existence. If not for a mysterious benefactor dragging her to safety, Madison would have died. When she awakes at Mass General, she meets officers Joe Rowe and Phil Senior. After researching her identity, the police confirm that Madison has an aunt and twin brother living in Charleston. Meanwhile, the Holbox research facility on the Yucatán Peninsula—specializing in climate science and geology—falls into chaos when workers are contaminated by rock samples from the Chicxulub crater, becoming murderous. Researcher Ami Knight takes drastic steps to contain the transmissible psychosis, yet some of the stones have already been smuggled into the United States as souvenirs. When Madison disembarks the train in Charleston, she hopes that her relatives will welcome her. Little does she realize that a gory nightmare will soon replace the seaside tranquility. Brusseau adds a hefty, world-building twist to his zombie narrative, connecting his agile hordes to what killed the dinosaurs 65 million years ago and to the idea that humanity started on another planet. Zombie buffs, however, won’t be disappointed by the well-paced carnage, including the walking dead devouring a bus driver (his “last gasp of air came not through his mouth, but directly through his trachea”). The characters also discuss God’s existence and intentions during the mayhem, with Madison favoring the tolerant view that “as long as we are alive,” we are “free to choose” the worldview “that makes the most sense for us individually.” Later, the guardian angel who saved her from the building reveals himself, greatly expanding the potential of Brusseau's world.
Charming characters populate this fast, exuberant genre mashup.Pub Date: Sept. 21, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-9966510-0-4
Page Count: 334
Publisher: Zombie Horde Publishing
Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A swift fable about navigating the perils of middle school.
A bossy middle school fashionista feels threatened by the new girl in Saii’s YA novel.
Vanessa Pocker and her friends Chelsea, Adrienne and Katie are the richest of the rich in their Santa Monica, Calif., middle school, and they comprise the Sassy Divas. Vanessa leads the pack and dictates whom the divas are allowed to talk to, what they’re allowed to wear and how they conduct themselves in public. Vanessa is so domineering that it’s a miracle she has any friends at all. Had Saii endowed her with an ounce of kindness, the loyalty of her minions might be more understandable. Vanessa’s militant nature finally alienates Katie, the diva who is too much of a bookworm, according to Vanessa. Katie befriends Flo, who’s on the Sassy Diva “do not speak to” list (Flo had once refused to hold Vanessa’s purse). Excommunicated from the Sassy Divas, Katie befriends the new girl at the school, Quinn. This infuriates Vanessa, and she declares war. A power play ensues among the adversarial lip-glossed sets, with Vanessa, Chelsea and Adrienne on one side and Katie, Quinn and Flo on the other. Vanessa turns to guy friend Ryan, who offers the only voice of reason when he admonishes her for obsessing over trivialities, such as revenge and makeovers, when there are starving children in the world. He seems to be nothing more than Vanessa’s sounding board, and it’s unclear what he gets out of the relationship. At least Vanessa buys clothes and makeup for her divas, on occasion. Mired in trendy youngster lingo, Saii’s tale accurately depicts girls’ power plays and the alienation that can result from simply owning jeans without a designer label. Fashion, gossip, popularity and shopping define these characters, and any threat of competition is cause for war. Vanessa’s parents rarely make appearances, except for a poignant scene when Vanessa’s mother engages her daughter in a heart-to-heart about her selfish behavior. It’s a relief to finally hear the mother speak and lead the story to an ending marked with humor and depth. Saii’s literary chops are inconsistently displayed and improve toward the conclusion. Although the average middle school girl may not wear Jimmy Choos or form private elitist groups, young readers might find themselves curious about these affluent trendsetters. At least Vanessa learns her lesson, which raises the novel a notch above teenybopper fluff.
A swift fable about navigating the perils of middle school.Pub Date: March 1, 2013
ISBN: 9781937675080
Page Count: 155
Publisher: Lekha Publishers
Review Posted Online: March 4, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An intriguing, if not always emotionally engaging, story of a serious teen problem.
Somers’ debut young-adult novel follows a teenage boy from sickness to tenuous health as he battles an eating disorder and the problems that helped create it.
Nathan is a typical teen with typical problems, including an unhappy family life and romantic disappointment, but he’s got an unhealthy “solution” for dealing with them: starving and purging himself. His descent into bulimia and anorexia occurs quite quickly; it starts with Nathan taking short bike rides to get away from his domineering father and alcoholic mother, and soon he’s inducing vomiting; not long afterward, he’s admitted to an eating-disorder program, at which point the book seems to find its center. Nathan is the only boy in his unit, a fact that his status-obsessed parents find it hard to understand; in fact, as the book makes clear, boys make up 10 percent of those who suffer from eating disorders. Somers’ novel never falls into “after-school special” territory, but it has a clear message. Nathan is depicted as a smart, cynical teenager, but his trials are sometimes more informative than heart-wrenching. The short chapters, complete with bad teenage poetry, keep the story moving, and Nathan’s dad, mom and nurse all get at least one chance to tell their side of the story. But although these multiple points of view are interesting, they may distract readers from Nathan’s personal trials. Also, the novel sometimes gets bogged down in eating-disorder program protocol; for example, a plan to interrupt Nathan’s family therapy takes two pages of emails, rather than a line or two of dialogue.
An intriguing, if not always emotionally engaging, story of a serious teen problem.Pub Date: Nov. 12, 2012
ISBN: 978-0988367203
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Rundy Hill Press LLC
Review Posted Online: April 30, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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