bookshelf

DOTWAV

Name: DOTWAV
Author: Mike A. Lancaster
ISBN: 978-1-5107-0404-6

by Mike A. Lancaster ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 6, 2016

This one’s a page-turner.

bookshelf

Combining a love of science fiction with modern technology and some very original thinking, this novel takes a look at some of society’s preconceived notions from a slightly off-kilter view.

Biracial English 15-year-old Ani Lee is used to taking care of herself: her Vietnamese mother is hospitalized in a mental institution after a horrible suicide attempt, and her white father is off pursuing some shady business ventures. For Ani, hacking into restricted websites is both easy and good fun, though her best friend and hacking partner is someone she’s never met. But when he sends her a secret .wav file, Ani finds out how alone in the world she really is, because now men with guns are trying to kidnap her for that file. It’s only by chance that she runs into 17-year-old Joe Dyson, a white American living in London, at an underground concert. Joe is an operative for the Youth Enforcement Task Initiative, a secret section of British Intelligence, who goes where only teens can blend in. Together, they have to solve exactly what the .wav file is, who wants it, and what makes it so important. Too many lives are at stake and someone’s pulling the strings, using music to gather the world’s youth into one massive, mindless army. But whose? The third-person narration alternates between Ani and Joe, weaving both psychological back story and futuristic sci-fi elements through the story. Though it takes its time, it never drags, parceling out plot details and worldbuilding in classic thriller fashion.

This one’s a page-turner. (Thriller. 12 & up)

Pub Date: Sept. 6, 2016

ISBN: 978-1-5107-0404-6

Page Count: 416

Publisher: Sky Pony Press

Review Posted Online: May 31, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2016

Categories:

CHILDREN'S MYSTERY & THRILLER | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

bookshelf

WHEN YOU REACH ME

by Rebecca Stead ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 14, 2009

Some might guess at the baffling, heart-pounding conclusion, but when all the sidewalk characters from Miranda’s Manhattan...

bookshelf

When Miranda’s best friend Sal gets punched by a strange kid, he abruptly stops speaking to her; then oddly prescient letters start arriving.

They ask for her help, saying, “I'm coming to save your friend's life, and my own.” Readers will immediately connect with Miranda’s fluid first-person narration, a mix of Manhattan street smarts and pre-teen innocence. She addresses the letter writer and recounts the weird events of her sixth-grade year, hoping to make sense of the crumpled notes. Miranda’s crystalline picture of her urban landscape will resonate with city teens and intrigue suburban kids. As the letters keep coming, Miranda clings to her favorite book, A Wrinkle in Time, and discusses time travel with Marcus, the nice, nerdy boy who punched Sal. Keen readers will notice Stead toying with time from the start, as Miranda writes in the present about past events that will determine her future.

Some might guess at the baffling, heart-pounding conclusion, but when all the sidewalk characters from Miranda’s Manhattan world converge amid mind-blowing revelations and cunning details, teen readers will circle back to the beginning and say, “Wow...cool.” (Fiction. 12 & up)

Pub Date: July 14, 2009

ISBN: 978-0-385-73742-5

Page Count: 208

Publisher: Wendy Lamb/Random

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2009

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY

- BOOK REVIEW
ANYTHING
by Rebecca Stead ; illustrated by Gracey Zhang

- BOOK REVIEW
THE LOST LIBRARY
by Rebecca Stead & Wendy Mass

- BOOK REVIEW
THE LIST OF THINGS THAT WILL NOT CHANGE
by Rebecca Stead

bookshelf

THE LIGHTNING THIEF

From the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series , Vol. 1

by Rick Riordan ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 1, 2005

The sardonic tone of the narrator’s voice lends a refreshing air of realism to this riotously paced quest tale of heroism...

bookshelf

Edgar Award–winning Riordan leaves the adult world of mystery to begin a fantasy series for younger readers.

Twelve-year-old Percy (full name, Perseus) Jackson has attended six schools in six years. Officially diagnosed with ADHD, his lack of self-control gets him in trouble again and again. What if it isn’t his fault? What if all the outrageous incidents that get him kicked out of school are the result of his being a “half-blood,” the product of a relationship between a human and a Greek god? Could it be true that his math teacher Mrs. Dodds transformed into a shriveled hag with bat wings, a Fury, and was trying to kill him? Did he really vanquish her with a pen that turned into a sword? One need not be an expert in Greek mythology to enjoy Percy’s journey to retrieve Zeus’s master bolt from the Underworld, but those who are familiar with the deities and demi-gods will have many an ah-ha moment. Along the way, Percy and his cohort run into Medusa, Cerberus and Pan, among others.

The sardonic tone of the narrator’s voice lends a refreshing air of realism to this riotously paced quest tale of heroism that questions the realities of our world, family, friendship and loyalty. (Fantasy. 12-15)