A satisfying, action-packed story of survival and hope.
Jon, Korka, and Aron Gunnarsson find their world collapsing when their parents are killed in an avalanche. Can they rise above this catastrophic event?
Their Icelandic immigrant parents were wilderness survival experts, and the deadly accident should have been avoidable. The siblings can only surmise that their parents were distracted by their mounting financial problems. Now Children’s Services needs to find them a guardian or place them in the foster care system. The siblings worry that 11-year-old Aron—selectively mute, quirky, imaginative—might be put in a special home. Jon can’t prevent this unless he can keep Aron, middle sibling Korka, and himself safely hidden in the Canadian Rockies for nearly three months until he turns 18 and can be named their legal guardian. The deadly challenges mount—snow, cold, blisters, fever, and sprains—lending a stomach-clenching tension to the tale. Worse, they are in danger of starving. The grieving threesome draw on every skill they have absorbed from their parents, but the hardest challenge may be learning to work together as a team. Their distinct personalities, conflicts, and complex history are well drawn, adding drama and depth. An encounter with another runaway helps give them perspective. Just as it seems they may achieve their goal, another near disaster hits. This time they are completely united, proving they are survivors who can get through anything together.
A satisfying, action-packed story of survival and hope. (Adventure. 12-17)Pub Date: Feb. 22, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-4597-4831-6
Page Count: 280
Publisher: Dundurn
Review Posted Online: Nov. 29, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2021
Breezy, silly, unremarkable fun.
This sequel to The Final Six (2018) raises the stakes for its spacefaring teen astronauts.
Naomi Ardalan and the other Final Six are on their journey to colonize Jupiter’s moon Europa, leading the way for humans to eventually leave a dying Earth. Naomi is the only one in the group who knows that the leaders of the International Space Training Camp are keeping the truth from them, and it is down to her to discover whether there is alien life on Europa before they land. Back on Earth, and unbeknownst to the crew, left-behind recruit Leo Danieli works with genius doctor Greta Wagner to launch a solo mission to intercept and join Naomi’s ship in order to bring them news that not only is there definitely life on Europa, but they are set to land in its most dangerous zone. As the two missions and alternating narratives converge, the unthinkable happens—and everything changes. Fast-paced and plot-driven, the novel decidedly veers into science fiction horror territory with plenty of scares that readers willing to suspend disbelief and embrace the teenagers-in-space setup are likely to enjoy. The syrupy romance between Leo and Naomi continues, and a new layer is added to the story with a frustratingly too-brief examination of colonization and first contact. Naomi is Iranian American, Leo is Italian, and the human cast is international.
Breezy, silly, unremarkable fun. (Science fiction horror. 14-17)Pub Date: Feb. 18, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-06-265897-5
Page Count: 320
Publisher: HarperTeen
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2020
A smart, timely outing.
Two teens connect through a mysterious podcast in this sophomore effort by British author Oseman (Solitaire, 2015).
Frances Janvier is a 17-year-old British-Ethiopian head girl who is so driven to get into Cambridge that she mostly forgoes friendships for schoolwork. Her only self-indulgence is listening to and creating fan art for the podcast Universe City, “a…show about a suit-wearing student detective looking for a way to escape a sci-fi, monster-infested university.” Aled Last is a quiet white boy who identifies as “partly asexual.” When Frances discovers that Aled is the secret creator of Universe City, the two embark on a passionate, platonic relationship based on their joint love of pop culture. Their bond is complicated by Aled’s controlling mother and by Frances’ previous crush on Aled’s twin sister, Carys, who ran away last year and disappeared. When Aled’s identity is accidently leaked to the Universe City fandom, he severs his relationship with Frances, leaving her questioning her Cambridge goals and determined to win back his affection, no matter what the cost. Frances’ narration is keenly intelligent; she takes mordant pleasure in using an Indian friend’s ID to get into a club despite the fact they look nothing alike: “Gotta love white people.” Though the social-media–suffused plot occasionally lags, the main characters’ realistic relationship accurately depicts current issues of gender, race, and class.
A smart, timely outing. (Fiction. 12-16)Pub Date: March 28, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-06-233571-5
Page Count: 496
Publisher: HarperTeen
Review Posted Online: Jan. 16, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2017
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