Alien surprise with a side of early-teen angst makes for a decent read.
Two middle schoolers might be Earth’s only defense against an alien takeover.
Haley, a slightly neurotic overachiever, wants a summer of adventure that will look good on her college applications. Dodger, a misfit who hears a phantom radio station in his head, hopes to finally find a place where he belongs. Haley and Dodger are brought together when they each receive a grant to study extraterrestrial activity. Their research could give them both what they desperately desire, but only if they can avoid being abducted. Assisted by the mysterious Alto, whose memory seems spotty at best, the two young investigators find themselves at the center of a global conspiracy. Unless the three unlikely heroes can figure out how to thwart the alien threat, Earth is scheduled to be turned into a zoo with mankind as its primary exhibit. Despite the looming takeover, Haley and Dodger face universal questions: Where did I come from? Where am I going? And are pancakes the perfect fuel for adventurers? Quirky characters and an intriguing mystery elevate this story above many other alien encounters. Overwritten inner monologues and a plot that sometimes meanders for no discernible reasons make pacing an issue.
Alien surprise with a side of early-teen angst makes for a decent read. (Science fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Feb. 26, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-06-207185-9
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Walden Pond Press/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Dec. 11, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2013
Riveting.
In this sequel to Bloom (2020), half-alien/half-human teenagers Anaya, Petra, and Seth continue to fight an alien invasion while grappling with their own rapidly changing bodies.
After helping discover an herbicide that delayed the aliens’ initial attempt at colonization—seeding the Earth with deadly plant life—the three friends shelter on Deadman’s Island with Anaya’s and Petra’s parents and Dr. Weber, a scientist who becomes their ally and offers to be parentless Seth’s foster mother. The teens feel safe until Col. Pearson, the head of operations on the island, discovers their secret: that Seth has feathers, Anaya has claws, and Petra has a tail, all as a result of the alien DNA they hadn’t known they were carrying until the Earth became covered in intergalactic flora. Pearson sends the teens to a military base housing 23 other young people with alien DNA. The three are relieved to meet others like them—until they realize that the scientist running the facility has nefarious plans to study them. As the teens’ bodies transform, so do their loyalties: Should they help earthlings, who are mistreating them, or the aliens who gave them their special powers? The book’s character arcs are nuanced and believable and the prose, gorgeously rendered. Oppel’s chillingly beautiful, detailed world is the perfect backdrop to the action-packed plot. Unfortunately, the human characters largely lack any kind of diversity.
Riveting. (Science fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-984894-76-2
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: June 29, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020
Breathless adventures in richly imagined settings—an entrancing sequel.
A teenager’s mission to help distressed magical creatures takes her into dangerous places and deadly situations in this folk tale–infused sequel to Once There Was (2023).
The stakes rise considerably this time around: Over the course of encounters with eldritch supernatural beings and a reclusive Persian cousin of (as it turns out) uncertain reliability, Marjan Dastani, now 16, learns that a legendary bird that brings stories to the world is about to be reborn. As a hatchling, it will be vulnerable to foes—notably the Fells, a ruthless organization of magical animal traffickers that is, to Marjan’s deep disgust, her main employer. Interspersing his chapters with fragmentary folk tales featuring orphans, quests, monsters, the titular bird, and hints of profound truths, Monsef sends his rousingly intense and sometimes difficult protagonist all over the map, from Berkeley to Istanbul, Rio de Janeiro, and remotest Finland. Hoping to find and protect the Bird, Marjan embarks on a headlong series of tests, betrayals, reversals, revelations, and confrontations. Better yet, along with dishing up a diverse human cast linked by refreshingly nuanced relationships, the author endows the supernatural being with subtle and surprising natures, abilities, and agendas. “The fae are fickle,” says one character. “One day they sing you the sweetest song. The next day they eat your cat.” Even jaded fantasy readers won’t be able to help but be beguiled.
Breathless adventures in richly imagined settings—an entrancing sequel. (source notes) (Fantasy. 10-14)Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2025
ISBN: 9781665928533
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2024
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