A stellar futuristic tale with an exemplary heroine.
A teenager hopes to prove her merit at a prominent space-station school by finding a solution to a plague devastating her home planet, Earth, in this YA sci-fi debut.
Emi Hayden Swift dreams of attending the Intergalactic Institute of Science and Technology. But as IGIST seemingly rejects the 14-year-old’s application, she may have to settle for another school. Tragedy unfortunately follows: She loses her father, Max, to the plague, an infectious black cloud with fractal tentacles that keeps most earthlings hidden in their homes. Now an orphan, she only has Sadee, her flying, orb-shaped droid, and her new pal, Jacqueline “Jack” Lemore, the daughter of Emi’s favorite teacher on Earth. Jack is a space transporter by trade and a misfit by choice—one of a group of humans who genetically modify their bodies with animal attributes. At a recruiting station, Emi takes a general test that scores her a scholarship to a Star League school, which includes IGIST. But first she must undergo a probationary period on the moon, where the IGIST space station is orbiting. Not only does Emi, the first earthling student in two decades, endure Martian bullies, but it’s also clear Martian students have the advantage, with years of prep work and tutoring specifically for IGIST tests. She’s convinced that, in order to prove herself, she’ll need to enter the Agon, a science competition, with a plan and means to thwart the plague on Earth. But when validating her project requires a live sample of the plague, Emi’s proposal could become downright dangerous. Emi’s determination is her most admirable trait. She’s an appealing heroine who never allows others to discourage her, even as some suggest the new student wait a year for an Agon submission. Similarly, in one scene, she is certain she will fail a test she’s currently taking but refuses to give up. But like all great protagonists, Emi is believably flawed. She, for example, stubbornly insists on working alone despite offers of help, and it’s a long while before she acknowledges the benefits of teamwork. Supporting characters are likewise dynamic: Emi earns her share of allies, but not everyone stays on her side, while apparent antagonists are occasionally surprising. Jack is a standout and headlines her own subplot, in which she stirs up trouble with the Terrans, a terrorist group that targets whatever it deems anti-earthling. But the best player is Sadee, an apt example of the story’s dense characterization and rich technology. Sadee is impressive as tech, communicating via written messages, utilizing a device that provides a brain-to-brain link with Emi. But she’s also the novel’s most endearing character; as Emi equates emotion with color, Sadee glows with a bright variety, signifying whatever feeling she surmises a human would have. During the frenzied final act, for example—which entails a couple of superb plot twists—Sadee, in response to a panicked crowd of people, glows yellow. Larson’s taut descriptions and brief chapters generate a speedy pace, complemented by debut illustrator Jung’s stark black-and-white images that practically burst with detail.
A stellar futuristic tale with an exemplary heroine.Pub Date: Dec. 10, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-79067-067-3
Page Count: 295
Publisher: Time Tunnel Media
Review Posted Online: Jan. 8, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
King handles his first novel with considerable accomplishment and very little hokum—it's only too easy to believe that these...
Figuratively and literally shattering moments of hoRRRRRipilication in Chamberlain, Maine where stones fly from the sky rather than from the hands of the villagers (as they did in "The Lottery," although the latter are equal to other forms of persecution).
All beginning when Carrie White discovers a gift with telekinetic powers (later established as a genetic fact), after she menstruates in full ignorance of the process and thinks she is bleeding to death while the other monsters in the high school locker room bait and bully her mercilessly. Carrie is the only child of a fundamentalist freak mother who has brought her up with a concept of sin which no blood of the Lamb can wash clean. In addition to a sympathetic principal and gym teacher, there's one girl who wishes to atone and turns her date for the spring ball over to Carrie who for the first time is happy, beautiful and acknowledged as such. But there will be hell to pay for this success—not only her mother but two youngsters who douse her in buckets of fresh-killed pig blood so that Carrie once again uses her "wild talent," flexes her mind and a complete catastrophe (explosion and an uncontrolled fire) virtually destroys the town.
King handles his first novel with considerable accomplishment and very little hokum—it's only too easy to believe that these youngsters who once ate peanut butter now scrawl "Carrie White eats shit." But as they still say around here, "Sit a spell and collect yourself."Pub Date: April 8, 1974
ISBN: 0385086954
Page Count: 216
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Sept. 26, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1974
PERSPECTIVES
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
A first novel, this is also a first person account of Scout's (Jean Louise) recall of the years that led to the ending of a mystery, the breaking of her brother Jem's elbow, the death of her father's enemy — and the close of childhood years. A widower, Atticus raises his children with legal dispassion and paternal intelligence, and is ably abetted by Calpurnia, the colored cook, while the Alabama town of Maycomb, in the 1930's, remains aloof to their divergence from its tribal patterns. Scout and Jem, with their summer-time companion, Dill, find their paths free from interference — but not from dangers; their curiosity about the imprisoned Boo, whose miserable past is incorporated in their play, results in a tentative friendliness; their fears of Atticus' lack of distinction is dissipated when he shoots a mad dog; his defense of a Negro accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell, is followed with avid interest and turns the rabble whites against him. Scout is the means of averting an attack on Atticus but when he loses the case it is Boo who saves Jem and Scout by killing Mayella's father when he attempts to murder them. The shadows of a beginning for black-white understanding, the persistent fight that Scout carries on against school, Jem's emergence into adulthood, Calpurnia's quiet power, and all the incidents touching on the children's "growing outward" have an attractive starchiness that keeps this southern picture pert and provocative. There is much advance interest in this book; it has been selected by the Literary Guild and Reader's Digest; it should win many friends.
Pub Date: July 11, 1960
ISBN: 0060935464
Page Count: 323
Publisher: Lippincott
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1960
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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