LAST GIRL STANDING

In this YA thriller, a teenage girl investigates a conspiracy in her hometown when residents start acting brainwashed.

“I’ve known for some time that our family’s not normal,” says 17-year-old Sierra Mendez, from the small California town of Los Patos. Her father died when she was 6. Sierra’s mother, Lauren Woodard, is an organic farmer who believes in self-sufficiency, keeps hens and a goat, and proclaims that the town’s tap water is poison. When their rain barrel runs dry, Sierra must haul buckets of water from the nearby river—and that’s where, one morning, she discovers a floating corpse, only the first of increasingly sinister events. The body is that of Mr. Delmar, the water district manager, to whom Lauren wrote threatening letters; the new police chief, Capt. Leach, openly leers at Sierra and throws Lauren in a cell; and more and more town residents take on a glazed, stupefied look. It’s a conspiracy involving the town’s water, Sierra concludes. Her suspicions are stoked by TV channels that now all broadcast an infomercial containing subliminal messaging: “Watch TV…Don’t Ask Questions…Do Your Job…All is Well.” Worse still, zombified people are being replaced by androids. Escape from Los Patos is impossible, so Sierra and a few friends must hatch a bold plan to attack the conspiracy at its source. Kaptanoglu (Dreadmarrow Thief, 2017) writes an engaging, often humorous tale that includes romance, teamwork, heroism, some tragedy, and a little paranoia along with a likable, smart, and cool cast. They’re racially and culturally diverse; for example, popular soccer star Myles has two dads and is Asian Caucasian. (Though this would seem to indicate generally progressive politics, the town “voted for Trump.”) Many plot elements have a comic element, but the story also affords much opportunity for personal development, like Sierra’s unresolved guilty feelings over some childish misbehavior that indirectly catalyzed her father’s deportation to, and death in, El Salvador. The adventure moves along rapidly with plenty of action while saving a few surprises for the end.

Fast-paced, entertaining, and exciting, with a fresh, believable voice.