The second book of the Clone Codes (Clone Codes, 2010) focuses on Houston Ye, the teen cyborg who helped the clone Leanna escape the government forces seeking her in fulfillment of its policy of discrimination against any deemed not completely human. Houston’s life was saved by technology, but his nonhuman status resulted in abandonment by his family. Now he finds himself on a hijacked spaceship with Leanna and a boy genius heading for the Moon to look for the protection of his guardian, another cyborg, who had been a friend of his father. The Moon, away from the attention of the Federation, has become a place where Firsts (fully human), cyborgs and clones can get along. The Federation decides to clamp down further on cyborgs, triggering a wave of protests modeled on the Civil Rights movement. The McKissacks continue to successfully draw parallels between a futuristic world that tries to control those considered different and historic racial struggles. The characters are drawn without much complexity, but the worldbuilding is intriguing, there is plenty of action and ethnic diversity in a science-fiction tale is welcome. (Science fiction. 12 & up)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-439-92985-1
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 29, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An entertaining if not entirely transparent sequel.
In this follow-up to Silverwood (2015), the Silverwood clan must ensure its old enemy doesn’t escape its supernatural prison.
Streeter treats readers to a fairy-tale–esque prologue telling the story of a girl who is banished because of her power to predict negative future events and who grows up to be the ancestor of the Silverwoods. In the modern world, the Silverwoods, a close-knit white family, are camping when they learn that their cousin, bearer of half of the “portal coin” that locked away Monder, a powerful, evil, human-gobbling Tromindox, needs to pass the burden along. Throughout the book, the various Silverwoods are desperate to do three things: keep Monder imprisoned; guard their half of the portal coin; and find the Silver Shard, the only thing that can permanently destroy the portal coin and ensure that Monder never escapes. Through the nonstop action that ensues, adults often act as point-of-view characters, though Helen and, especially, Henry Silverwood are still major figures in the narrative. When Henry is abducted by Monder, Helen takes it upon herself to save him, but each character has an important role to play if they are to win the day. There’s a lot of talk about portals and time and space that’s not entirely clear. Readers may not be able to decide if the world Streeter offers actually makes sense, but if an engaging narrative is what readers crave, complete comprehension may be a sacrifice worth making.
An entertaining if not entirely transparent sequel. (Fantasy. 12 & up)Pub Date: July 29, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-61153-169-5
Page Count: 290
Publisher: Light Messages
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
A clash of mythic intrigues and centuries of pop culture to thrill die-hard and new fans alike.
With more Mel Brooks–ian flare than a fourth wall could hope to contain, Riordan presents another expansion to his modern pantheon.
Punished by his father, Zeus, sun god Apollo falls from grace—literally—first landing painfully in a dumpster and then, humiliatingly, into the service of a streetwise, 12-year-old, presumably white demigod named Meg McCaffrey. The now-mortal Apollo seeks help from Camp Half-Blood and its resident heroes only to find that there’s been a plague of disappearances among the demigods, the camp has been cut off from the Oracle of Delphi and its quest-granting prophecies, and a sinister conspiracy is working tirelessly to destroy everything the former sun god holds dear. In his narration, Apollo alternately waxes poetic about his godly virtues (including his open bisexuality) and gripes about his current awkwardness and servitude to the enigmatic Meg. Egocentric to the point of rollicking self-deprecation as he tries to reconcile millennia of personal history as an immortal with his sudden fragile finitude, his voice overpowers any sense of his new 16-year-old white, acned form, and he continuously disrupts the narrative to remind readers of his dissatisfying appearance. Nonetheless, the wearying negotiation of inner and outer self will ring true for (im)mortals of any age as Apollo desperately works to save himself and everyone else.
A clash of mythic intrigues and centuries of pop culture to thrill die-hard and new fans alike. (glossary) (Fantasy. 12-17)Pub Date: May 3, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4847-3274-8
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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