A brisk and engaging tale of discovery and escape.
In Smith’s YA SF novel set in an unnamed, struggling city, a young orphan makes a terrifying discovery about the school in which she resides.
Mona, a student in the third pod for 10- and 11-year-olds at an unnamed residential school in the postwar era, believes she’s lucky to be there instead of in an overrun orphanage. Mona and her friend Owen, a natural storyteller, are gifted with excellent memories, which make them prime subjects for individualized memory training. Their education is also steeped in government indoctrination in a society in which elections aren’t democratic, the Chancellor is selected by a senate, and many live in poverty. Questioning the validity of this system is forbidden. Students are trained in advanced memory techniques, but the school isn’t a school at all but a corporation called the Company that specializes in “Selective Memory Extraction and Implantation.” After Mona realizes exactly what’s going on there, she uses her unique talents and the assistance of a sympathetic lab technician to plot her escape. Smith’s two primary characters are lively and vivid but have appealingly distinct personalities, and the worldbuilding is superb without taking over the story. The author wisely balances material regarding the Company with stories of the kids who reside there. Although it has a postapocalyptic setting, it doesn’t ever feel clichéd; readers see just enough of the world through the kids’ eyes to understand what’s happening, but it’s never heavy-handed or saddled with lengthy backstory. The science at the heart of the story is creative, and the story’s pacing is swift and exciting, particularly in the second half.
A brisk and engaging tale of discovery and escape.Pub Date: March 1, 2023
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 273
Publisher: Smelbiney Publishing
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away.
A Mexican American boy takes on heavy responsibilities when his family is torn apart.
Mateo’s life is turned upside down the day U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents show up unsuccessfully seeking his Pa at his New York City bodega. The Garcias live in fear until the day both parents are picked up; his Pa is taken to jail and his Ma to a detention center. The adults around Mateo offer support to him and his 7-year-old sister, Sophie, however, he knows he is now responsible for caring for her and the bodega as well as trying to survive junior year—that is, if he wants to fulfill his dream to enter the drama program at the Tisch School of the Arts and become an actor. Mateo’s relationships with his friends Kimmie and Adam (a potential love interest) also suffer repercussions as he keeps his situation a secret. Kimmie is half Korean (her other half is unspecified) and Adam is Italian American; Mateo feels disconnected from them, less American, and with worries they can’t understand. He talks himself out of choosing a safer course of action, a decision that deepens the story. Mateo’s self-awareness and inner monologue at times make him seem older than 16, and, with significant turmoil in the main plot, some side elements feel underdeveloped. Aleman’s narrative joins the ranks of heart-wrenching stories of migrant families who have been separated.
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-7595-5605-8
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A lackluster and sometimes disturbing mishmash of overused tropes.
The Plague has left a population divided between Elites and Ordinaries—those who have powers and those who don’t; now, an Ordinary teen fights for her life.
Paedyn Gray witnessed the king kill her father five years ago, and she’s been thieving and sleeping rough ever since, all while faking Psychic abilities. When she inadvertently saves the life of Prince Kai, she becomes embroiled in the Purging Trials, a competition to commemorate the sickness that killed most of the kingdom’s Ordinaries. Kai’s duties as the future Enforcer include eradicating any remaining Ordinaries, and these Trials are his chance to prove that he’s internalized his brutal training. But Kai can’t help but find Pae’s blue eyes, silver hair, and unabashed attitude enchanting. She likewise struggles to resist his stormy gray eyes, dark hair, and rakish behavior, even as they’re pitted against each other in the Trials and by the king himself. Scenes and concepts that are strongly reminiscent of the Hunger Games fall flat: They aren’t bolstered by the original’s heart or worldbuilding logic that would have justified a few extreme story elements. Illogical leaps and inconsistent characterizations abound, with lighthearted romantic interludes juxtaposed against genocide, child abuse, and sadism. These elements, which are not sufficiently addressed, combined with the use of ableist language, cannot be erased by any amount of romantic banter. Main characters are cued white; the supporting cast has some brown-skinned characters.
A lackluster and sometimes disturbing mishmash of overused tropes. (map) (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2023
ISBN: 9798987380406
Page Count: 538
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Sept. 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2023
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