A somewhat derivative plot deftly gains altitude, atmosphere, and velocity via vibrant storytelling.
A boy on a future deep-space voyage awakens from suspended animation prematurely and becomes the only human able to take action when marauders invade the ship.
This middle-grade novel by prolific SF/thriller author Wells introduces readers to Su-Shu “Zero” Huang. He is the 12-year-old son of a prominent engineer who worked on the Pathfinder, a skyscraper-sized ship carrying earthlings intending to build a new civilization on a habitable planet 20 light-years away. Zero and his family are among the 20,000 voyagers in stasis for the 105-year journey at one-fifth light-speed to a distant star. But after only 28 days, Zero’s pod malfunctions and revives him—just as the Pathfinder is two days away from a perilous maneuver heading over the edge of the solar system. An adult pilot who should have been on duty is missing, so Zero finds himself completely alone except for Sancho, an artificial intelligence program that assists in maintaining the ship. Sancho tries to help Zero cope with the unexpected development but is limited by its incorporeal nature and machine logic. Then another vessel docks with the Pathfinder, and Zero deduces that he and his helpless fellow humans have become potential victims of space pirates. The audience may recognize the much imitated template of the movie Die Hard (or, if readers want to be literary about it, Roderick Thorp’s novel Nothing Lasts Forever, which inspired the Bruce Willis film), though a Home Alone parallel is equally apt. Antics in this series opener stay in the PG realm, and the plucky youngster uses improvised weapons and fancy moves against his enemies, who oscillate between the scary and the silly (a recurring panic by the bad guys—who really ought to know better—that their nemesis is really an alien definitely leans to the childish). A smattering of Asian names carries a multicultural flavor. Fans may find an echo here of the matriarch-dominated sky pirates from the classic Studio Ghibli cartoon Castle in the Sky. If things stay a little markedly in orbit around juvenile-level dialogue and situations (but no more than Robert Heinlein and Robert Silverberg did in their younger-skewing material), the action is still constant and fairly riveting. Sancho, smartly, is never allowed to become either a convenient, all-purpose solution to the hero’s dilemmas or an R2-D2 stand-in.
A somewhat derivative plot deftly gains altitude, atmosphere, and velocity via vibrant storytelling.Pub Date: Dec. 8, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-70947-472-9
Page Count: 188
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: March 3, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Inconsistent and messy.
A young Appalachian girl uses magic to try and save her home.
Sybaline Shaw’s family has known for years that their magical valley in the Appalachian foothills would be flooded when the nearby Tennessee Valley Authority dam was complete. Her father is off fighting in World War II, but Momma has already packed up their household. Sybaline alone of her family can’t accept this. Everyone in the Lark bloodline can use magic within the valley to shape the natural world, but they risk transforming themselves into plants or trees—a danger Sybaline and her cousins regularly ignore. After lying to their parents shortly before everyone moves away, Sybaline and her cousin Nettle—each claiming to be going to stay with the other—remain behind and create a bubble around Sybaline’s home, which soon turns into a dark, dank prison on the bottom of the newly formed lake. Now Sybaline and Nettle are becoming trees—how will they escape? Told from Sybaline’s point of view with matter-of-factness, the novel blends fantasy and reality with worldbuilding that leaves unanswered questions. Brief mentions of aluminum plants supporting the war effort, riots by White men over Black construction workers, and the Trail of Tears contrast with the Edenlike imagery of the lush, unspoiled valley and its sheltered occupants living off the land in yet another Appalachian story supporting the trope that technology is predominantly bad. Main characters are assumed to be White.
Inconsistent and messy. (Historical fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-72820-964-7
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Sourcebooks Young Readers
Review Posted Online: Feb. 25, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
A swamp full of secrets and a quirky cast of characters combine for a delightfully dark debut.
When Neve’s older sister, Rose, is kidnapped by a swamp witch, she must learn to listen to her own instincts or risk losing her sister forever.
Though they aren’t twins—Rose is 11 months older—seventh grade sisters Rose and Neve are rarely apart. Headstrong, outgoing Rose has always been in charge of everything, which has been fine with creative, introverted Neve. Soon after their parents separate and the girls move with their mom to a creepy old house in Etters, South Carolina, a strange fog emerges from the woods and disappears with Rose, leaving Neve to figure out what happened and how to save her sister. Most of the adults around her are emotionally absent and, frankly, rather useless. Although there are a few loose ends and unanswered questions, this goosebump-inducing, Brothers Grimm–inspired contemporary fairy tale deftly illustrates how a younger sibling begins to outgrow both an older one’s shadow and the expectations of their parents as she pursues her own sense of self and takes the initiative in a daring rescue mission. Main characters read as White; alluding to the source material, “Snow-White and Rose-Red,” one sister has white-blond hair and the other’s is auburn. Names and physical descriptions cue some diversity in the supporting cast.
A swamp full of secrets and a quirky cast of characters combine for a delightfully dark debut. (Fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-358-67455-9
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2022
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