Title aside, a good place for young fans of Lois Duncan and Christopher Pike.
Best friends Mailee and Cara’s bond is tested when Cara becomes enthralled with a charismatic cult leader the summer before their senior year.
Disorganized Mailee has always depended on Cara’s focus to make their future dreams of working in show business come true. So she’s stunned when Cara decides to turn her life over to Firehorse, the alluring leader of the Haven, a small commune in the wilderness near their Montana home. Cara’s been in mourning since her younger sister, Harper, died in a car accident and is initially attracted to Haven after a chance meeting with Avalon, a little girl who lives there. But Mailee is troubled by the commune’s lack of basic resources and the small concrete prison she discovers on its outskirts. When Cara invites Mailee to a Haven “harvest celebration” that will culminate in her initiation into the commune, Mailee tries to free her friend—an attempt that nearly ends in tragedy. Though the plot is predictable and the climax preposterous, Mailee’s extensive research into the veracity of Firehorse’s anti-government rants is a well-timed nod to current “fake news” controversies. Mailee and Cara are white, Mailee’s boyfriend, Gavin, is an enrolled member of the Blackfeet tribe, and secondary character Brigit is black.
Title aside, a good place for young fans of Lois Duncan and Christopher Pike. (Fiction. 12-15)Pub Date: Oct. 31, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-338-10105-8
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Point/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2017
Fans of the first book are a natural audience for this one, but thanks to the graceful insertion of back story in the form...
In this continuation of the story begun in Alien Invasion and Other Inconveniences (2010), elements of mythology add spice to the science-fiction adventures of a group of American teens who escaped from slavery under the alien Sanginians.
Having left slavery behind, Jesse, Lauren and Catlin find life with the rebels in the camp in New Mexico’s mountains to have a different—but no less disturbing—set of pitfalls to navigate. In the battle at Taos in the previous book, Jesse managed to kill Lord Vertenomous and acquired the reverence of some rebels as the mythical Warrior Spirit as well as the hostility of those with plans of their own. As revealed by Jesse in his present-tense narration, this is not something he is particularly comfortable with. The addition of a new alien called the Hunter that’s searching for Jesse results in a potent mix of political conflict, double crosses and maximum suspense. The believable resolution is preceded by several shocks that add to its credibility.
Fans of the first book are a natural audience for this one, but thanks to the graceful insertion of back story in the form of a recapping prologue, this second act will attract and satisfy new readers. (Science fiction. 12-15)Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-7636-5962-2
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Nevertheless, fills the bill for teens looking for an atypical action adventure.
A teen goes to desperate lengths to save his family’s diner in this unevenly executed fishing drama set on Narragansett Bay.
Fourteen-year-old Jake Cole’s father was lost at sea last year. Since then, he and his mother haven’t been able to keep up with the family diner’s mortgage payments to the local loan sharks. His mother is ready to give up and move in with his grandmother in Arizona, but Jake has a plan. Previously polluted Barrington Beach is about to be reopened for quahog harvesting. If he and his father’s old quahogging buddy Gene can pull enough clams once the beach reopens, they may be able to raise most of the mortgage money. Jake is working on getting the rest of the money by illegally fishing at night with a mysterious man he calls Captain, who claims to have known his father. But when Gene is hurt in a boating accident, Jake must work Barrington Beach alone. Can he pull enough quahogs to pay off the mob? While the distinct, clearly realized setting details distinguish this title from the vast schools of novels for young teens swimming in the publishing sea, choppy pace and perfunctory dialogue drag it down to the ocean floor.
Nevertheless, fills the bill for teens looking for an atypical action adventure. (map) (Fiction. 12-15)Pub Date: April 8, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-7636-6905-8
Page Count: 294
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Jan. 28, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2014
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