by Lance Erlick ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 25, 2014
A slow but often inventive dystopian sci-fi drama.
A young woman helps a boy escape from her all-female society in Erlick’s (The Rebel Within, 2013) YA novel.
After the Second American Civil War, women have ousted men from their society, pushing them to the Outlands or imprisoning them in various jails. Sixteen-year-old Annabelle lands herself in trouble when, during an arena fight as part of her military training, she allows the boy she’s battling to live. This gets her kicked out of the elite Mech Corps—or so she and her Commander, Sam, want everyone to think. In reality, she’s been assigned a mission to spy on Capt. Voss and Lt. Brita Scarlatti of the city police, who may be up to something illegal. Thanks to various technological implants, Annabelle’s Commander can hear and see everything she does. Meanwhile, she also lives with the burden of keeping everything secret from her sister, Janine. Morgan, the boy she allowed to survive, hacks into the implants, and asks her to help him rescue his brother. With so many voices in her head, Annabelle loses much of her agency, and can’t make any progress on her own investigations, which include finding her birth mother and finding out who’s been attempting to murder her adoptive mom. Annabelle doesn’t even seem well-suited to her assignment: “I can’t do this spying you want. I’m no good at it,” she says to Sam, who agrees, which may make it difficult for readers to see what makes her special. Annabelle’s story often moves at a sluggish pace, as her rambling introspection waters down the drama. However, Erlick sets his characters in a well-thought-out science-fiction world; in this all-female society, for example, scientific advances such as “egg-fusion” allow women to have children without men. The prose also maintains a straightforward clarity, and its intrigue is sufficiently complicated without being confusing.
A slow but often inventive dystopian sci-fi drama.Pub Date: March 25, 2014
ISBN: 978-0991464302
Page Count: 270
Publisher: Finlee Augare Books
Review Posted Online: June 19, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by Marti Dumas illustrated by Stephanie Parcus ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 11, 2017
In more ways than one, a tale about young creatures testing their wings; a moving, entertaining winner.
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A fifth-grade New Orleans girl discovers a mysterious chrysalis containing an unexpected creature in this middle-grade novel.
Jacquelyn Marie Johnson, called Jackie, is a 10-year-old African-American girl, the second oldest and the only girl of six siblings. She’s responsible, smart, and enjoys being in charge; she likes “paper dolls and long division and imagining things she had never seen.” Normally, Jackie has no trouble obeying her strict but loving parents. But when her potted snapdragon acquires a peculiar egg or maybe a chrysalis (she dubs it a chrysalegg), Jackie’s strong desire to protect it runs up against her mother’s rule against plants in the house. Jackie doesn’t exactly mean to lie, but she tells her mother she needs to keep the snapdragon in her room for a science project and gets permission. Jackie draws the chrysalegg daily, waiting for something to happen as it gets larger. When the amazing creature inside breaks free, Jackie is more determined than ever to protect it, but this leads her further into secrets and lies. The results when her parents find out are painful, and resolving the problem will take courage, honesty, and trust. Dumas (Jaden Toussaint, the Greatest: Episode 5, 2017, etc.) presents a very likable character in Jackie. At 10, she’s young enough to enjoy playing with paper dolls but has a maturity that even older kids can lack. She’s resourceful, as when she wants to measure a red spot on the chrysalegg; lacking calipers, she fashions one from her hairpin. Jackie’s inward struggle about what to obey—her dearest wishes or the parents she loves—is one many readers will understand. The book complicates this question by making Jackie’s parents, especially her mother, strict (as one might expect to keep order in a large family) but undeniably loving and protective as well—it’s not just a question of outwitting clueless adults. Jackie’s feelings about the creature (tender and responsible but also more than a little obsessive) are similarly shaded rather than black-and-white. The ending suggests that an intriguing sequel is to come.
In more ways than one, a tale about young creatures testing their wings; a moving, entertaining winner.Pub Date: Nov. 11, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943169-32-0
Page Count: 212
Publisher: Plum Street Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by Paul Langan Ben Alirez ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 1, 2004
A YA novel that treats its subject and its readers with respect while delivering an engaging story.
In the ninth book in the Bluford young-adult series, a young Latino man walks away from violence—but at great personal cost.
In a large Southern California city, 16-year-old Martin Luna hangs out on the fringes of gang life. He’s disaffected, fatherless and increasingly drawn into the orbit of the older, rougher Frankie. When a stray bullet kills Martin’s adored 8-year-old brother, Huero, Martin seems to be heading into a life of crime. But Martin’s mother, determined not to lose another son, moves him to another neighborhood—the fictional town of Bluford, where he attends the racially diverse Bluford High. At his new school, the still-grieving Martin quickly makes enemies and gets into trouble. But he also makes friends with a kind English teacher and catches the eye of Vicky, a smart, pretty and outgoing Bluford student. Martin’s first-person narration supplies much of the book’s power. His dialogue is plain, but realistic and believable, and the authors wisely avoid the temptation to lard his speech with dated and potentially embarrassing slang. The author draws a vivid and affecting picture of Martin’s pain and confusion, bringing a tight-lipped teenager to life. In fact, Martin’s character is so well drawn that when he realizes the truth about his friend Frankie, readers won’t feel as if they are watching an after-school special, but as though they are observing the natural progression of Martin’s personal growth. This short novel appears to be aimed at urban teens who don’t often see their neighborhoods portrayed in young-adult fiction, but its sophisticated characters and affecting story will likely have much wider appeal.
A YA novel that treats its subject and its readers with respect while delivering an engaging story.Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2004
ISBN: 978-1591940173
Page Count: 152
Publisher: Townsend Press
Review Posted Online: Jan. 26, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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