This YA narrative is full of quiet fury, and it’s remarkable watching its protagonist harness it.
In this debut YA techno-thriller, a computer-savvy teenager continues to develop a code language that his deceased father began.
High school senior Wyatt Fox has been seeing a graphic of a ghost while using the “Internet of Things Access” computer network. His friend Eli assumes that it’s an advertisement—just another data-tracking aspect of IOTA. However, Wyatt’s father recently died in a car accident, so the smart, lonely boy can’t help but acknowledge the weird coincidence. He had been close with his dad, who taught him how to write codes. They created a code language together, which involved famous quotes, such as Cicero’s “The aim of justice is to give everyone his due.” Now, Wyatt finds that he’s adept at manipulating a world that’s dependent on computer technology; there are self-driving cars, holographic sports in gym class, and companies obsessed with citizens’ biometric data. Wyatt learns that the ghost graphic (and its accompanying initials, WYW) was present at the site of his father’s accident. He also receives a text message that says, “You will know what to do,” along with coordinates for an old building in the city. He and Eli head for the location via train, but once in the city, Eli vanishes from the station, and Wyatt begins to learn that his father’s life wasn’t what it seemed. Dollahite has crafted a sharp, terrifying debut novel filled with the echoes of injustice that pervade 21st-century reality. His near-future world has seen cities destroyed by rising oceans as governments and corporations enforce the status quo, hunting down the last of the fossil fuels. As Wyatt’s father says, these groups have “been collecting our data for a long time now and...little good has come of it.” Eventually, Wyatt meets a beautiful hacker, Letti, and enters his father’s world in earnest. Meanwhile, he struggles with “how to make something just your very own.” The story creeps toward a blustery climax; hopefully, the sequel will validate Wyatt’s tough choices.
This YA narrative is full of quiet fury, and it’s remarkable watching its protagonist harness it.Pub Date: Jan. 12, 2015
ISBN: 978-1506158402
Page Count: 214
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: March 20, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Wrought with admirable skill—the emptiness and menace underlying this Utopia emerge step by inexorable step: a richly...
In a radical departure from her realistic fiction and comic chronicles of Anastasia, Lowry creates a chilling, tightly controlled future society where all controversy, pain, and choice have been expunged, each childhood year has its privileges and responsibilities, and family members are selected for compatibility.
As Jonas approaches the "Ceremony of Twelve," he wonders what his adult "Assignment" will be. Father, a "Nurturer," cares for "newchildren"; Mother works in the "Department of Justice"; but Jonas's admitted talents suggest no particular calling. In the event, he is named "Receiver," to replace an Elder with a unique function: holding the community's memories—painful, troubling, or prone to lead (like love) to disorder; the Elder ("The Giver") now begins to transfer these memories to Jonas. The process is deeply disturbing; for the first time, Jonas learns about ordinary things like color, the sun, snow, and mountains, as well as love, war, and death: the ceremony known as "release" is revealed to be murder. Horrified, Jonas plots escape to "Elsewhere," a step he believes will return the memories to all the people, but his timing is upset by a decision to release a newchild he has come to love. Ill-equipped, Jonas sets out with the baby on a desperate journey whose enigmatic conclusion resonates with allegory: Jonas may be a Christ figure, but the contrasts here with Christian symbols are also intriguing.
Wrought with admirable skill—the emptiness and menace underlying this Utopia emerge step by inexorable step: a richly provocative novel. (Fiction. 12-16)Pub Date: April 1, 1993
ISBN: 978-0-395-64566-6
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1993
In addition to the supernatural elements, Brosgol interweaves some savvy insights about the illusion of perfection and...
A deliciously creepy page-turning gem from first-time writer and illustrator Brosgol finds brooding teenager Anya trying to escape the past—both her own and the ghost haunting her.
Anya feels out of place at her preppy private school; embarrassed by her Russian heritage, she has worked hard to lose her accent and to look more like everyone else. After a particularly frustrating morning at the bus stop, Anya storms off, only to accidentally fall down a well. Down in the dark hole, she meets Emily, a ghost who claims to be a murder victim trapped down in the dank abyss for 90 years. With Emily’s help, Anya manages to escape, though once free, she learns that Emily has traveled out with her. At first, Emily seems like the perfect friend; however, once her motives become clear, Anya learns that “perfect” may only be an illusion. A moodily atmospheric spectrum of grays washes over the clean, tidy panels, setting a distinct stage before the first words appear. Brosgol’s tight storytelling invokes the chilling feeling of Neil Gaiman’s Coraline (2002), though for a decidedly older set.
In addition to the supernatural elements, Brosgol interweaves some savvy insights about the illusion of perfection and outward appearance. (Graphic supernatural fiction. 12 & up)Pub Date: June 7, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-59643-552-0
Page Count: 224
Publisher: First Second
Review Posted Online: April 18, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2011
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
