A gritty teen betrays his father and flees his grim existence in a post–global-warming Gulf Coast village to protect a young woman he barely knows in this gripping futuristic thriller. Fifteen-year-old Nailer works on the “light crew” as a ship breaker, salvaging metals from abandoned oil tankers. Nailer’s vicious father routinely beats him. In this violent world where people do anything for money, Nailer’s future seems bleak until he discovers Nina, the wealthy, attractive survivor of a shipwreck. Rather than kill Nina and steal the salvage, Nailer opts to save her, triggering a harrowing journey to the submerged cities of Orleans to find people loyal to Nina. As Nailer experiences brutal betrayals, he relies on his wits and learns the people worth calling family are the ones who “[cover] your back.... Everything else [is] just so much smoke and lies.” In Bacigalupi’s defiled, depressing landscape populated by mercenary humans and mechanical dog-men, Nailer’s loyalty offers hope. Told in the third person, this stark, surreal story sends an alarm to heed the warning signs of climate change or suffer a similar fate. (Science fiction. 12 & up)
Pub Date: May 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-316-05621-2
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Dec. 30, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2010
Wrenching and unmissable.
An immigrant family travels across the country to escape persecution.
Valentina González Ramirez, a teenage Colombian immigrant living in Southboro, Vermont, still remembers when the president won his third term and started building the Great American Wall between California and Mexico, implanting ID chips in people, and increasing deportation raids. It was in one of those raids that her father was captured and returned to Colombia, where he was murdered. After years of living in relative calm in Vermont, Vali and her family see a live-feed of a land mine exploding under the feet of a skinny girl in a worn Mickey Mouse T-shirt as she tries to cross the heavily guarded territory between Mexico and the U.S. Soon Vali’s world changes forever. Violent raids, increased security measures on ID chips, and California’s seceding to become a sanctuary push Vali, her mother, and her 8-year-old brother, Ernie, to embark on a journey to California and freedom. Mendoza and Sher’s novel is set in a not-so-distant dystopian future in which the government controls the broadcasting system and censors the media. In their portrayal of Vali’s family’s quest for safety, the authors beautifully mirror the treacherous, painful, and terrifying treks involving natural and human threats that migrants to the U.S. undertake as they traverse continents and oceans. Gruesome at times and always honest, Vali’s journey depicts immigrants’ desire for a safe and dignified life.
Wrenching and unmissable. (authors’ note) (Dystopian. 13-18)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-984815-71-2
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: July 7, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2020
PERSPECTIVES
A satisfying, high-stakes trilogy closer.
With Callipolis newly fallen to Ixion Stormscourge, can the Guardians save what is left of their home and create something better for everyone?
Picking up midaction immediately where Flamefall (2021) ended, we find our heroes separated and facing a losing battle. While Annie was busy sparking a revolution in New Pythos, Lee has remained in Callipolis. Now he’s trying to play the part of returning lord long enough to figure out what to do. There are limited options thanks to Ixion’s violent crackdowns on dissenters and Princess Freyda’s circling the city with her goliathan dragon to maintain order. However, when Freyda approaches Lee in secret with a plan to overthrow Ixion and take power for themselves, he has difficult choices to make. Will he marry Freyda and become the leader he was born to be or throw himself into exile with Annie and the other Guardians and brace for a war they are woefully unprepared for? The strong pacing balances aerial dragon battles and political machinations. The characters are well developed, growing as they face war’s moral dilemmas. The love stories (one straight, one gay) are complex and believable, woven seamlessly into the story. Point-of-view chapters from several characters allow readers to see different perspectives and become invested in multiple characters (and their dragons). The text includes some reminders to help readers track the cast and their various complex relationships.
A satisfying, high-stakes trilogy closer. (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: Aug. 9, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-525-51827-3
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: July 12, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2022
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