A passionate tale that’s not only about whales, but also about the fate of the planet.
This debut YA adventure features two teenagers whose lives intersect after an orca attack at an aquatic theme park.
Thirteen-year-old Terra Incognita Lewis has grown up in a family of scientists who study the killer whales of Washington state’s Puget Sound. She’s tried to teach the whales Morse code using a hydrophone and a drum, and recently, she dreamed of a new calf being born to the pod. As Terra and her best friend, Tiluk, wonder whether the pod’s leader, Granny, communicated this dream information to her, Terra’s parents learn of an emergency across the country in Florida. There, 14-year-old Miles Frost, along with his mother and younger sister, were at OceanLand to take in the “Lunch with Shantu” orca show. While eating, they witnessed the 12,000-pound animal kill an experienced trainer. To cope with the trauma, Miles sneaks into Shantu’s holding area before the park opens and plays music for the animal on his xylophone. Astonishingly, Shantu responds. Meanwhile, Terra and Tiluk learn from their parents that the deadly orca once belonged to the pod they’ve spent their lives studying. Terra researches the horrors that captive whales face and shares her knowledge through social media. Her communication with whales, however, has only just begun. Author Clark offers her audience doses of scientific information and spiritual richness. The depiction of the tragedy and of Puget Sound’s Southern Resident whales closely mirrors the story of Tilikum, the real-life orca whose murderous behavior features in the 2013 documentary Blackfish. The details included here (Shantu “looked like a dog who’d snatched a roast ham from the dining room table”) are sometimes shocking, though they’re necessary to deliver the full impact of Clark’s larger message. In the novel’s second half, Terra experiences a dream quest in which she learns about “The Fallacy,” “a feverish sickness” that has tricked people into believing they’re separate from nature. Although the depths of Terra’s eventual connectedness to the whales may be too abstract for younger readers, Clark goes above and beyond the call in revealing the grace inherent to all species. Wonderful black-and-white illustrations by Savory enhance the message.
A passionate tale that’s not only about whales, but also about the fate of the planet.Pub Date: June 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-945419-00-3
Page Count: 316
Publisher: Fawkes Press
Review Posted Online: Aug. 12, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A tightly written, fast-paced prose supernova.
Budding starship captain Ryan Thompson helps battle an alien invasion in Miller’s (The Kronos Interference, 2012) inventive sci-fi tale.
In 2012, fighter jets scrambled to intercept a UFO above Nevada’s Nellis Air Force Base. The rectangular object flew erratically, displaying no hostile behavior, and the jets followed as it crashed. Now, 150 years later, 2162 sees the United Earth Defense Fleet patrolling space, with outposts on Mars and Pluto. Cadet Ryan Thompson is a brash youth whose willingness to break the erules is matched only by his desire to win the Golden Cadet Award. Unfortunately, his brilliant ex-girlfriend Amanda just might win instead. They can’t stand each other since their romance ended the day Ryan’s mother died—a tragedy for which he blames himself. They must attempt to reconcile, however, when Earth’s fleet leaps to action against alien ships approaching from beyond Pluto. The menacing Altarrans, led by Supreme Commander Granthaxe, want something impossible—their wrecked envoys that crashed to Earth 150 years ago, perhaps with survivors. While the fleet dwindles in battle, Ryan, Amanda and their fellow cadets try to save lives with creative defense tactics. Quick thinking reveals that the strange amulet necklace Amanda wears—a family heirloom from her great-great-grandfather—may be more than it appears. With clever ideas and agile prose, Miller builds a world reminiscent of Star Trek: Ryan is a rebellious young Capt. Kirk who knows that “sometimes going by the book [isn’t] the best course to take.” Amid the pop-culture references to Star Wars and comic books, Miller’s believable, motivated characters shine, as Ryan’s brashness conflicts with Amanda’s search for peaceful solutions. In tight spots, they innovate: For instance, they create a solar-flare weapon by “overloading [a ship’s] light-speed generator and shutting it down milliseconds before detonation.” There’s also a secret connection between the Altarrans and Earth that honors the concept of a peaceful, inclusive universe. Nevertheless, right before someone survives a dose of radiation (à la Spider-Man), Ryan thinks they’re “going to need a damn super hero or something.”
A tightly written, fast-paced prose supernova.Pub Date: June 13, 2013
ISBN: 978-0615805580
Page Count: 338
Publisher: Pop Culture Zoo Press
Review Posted Online: Sept. 17, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Teenage readers might be swept up in the passion between Therese and Than, though the story is unlikely to inflame any sort...
In this teen fantasy novel and love story, an orphaned girl finds herself at the center of a war brewing among the gods of Olympus.
When a book opens with a bang like this, readers might expect great things. Fifteen-year-old Therese is riding in a car with her parents when a gunman opens fire, hitting her mother and causing her father to careen off the road into a pond. Before Therese can free herself from the submerged car, she watches helplessly as both her parents die. Pohler’s (The Mystery Box, 2012, etc.) description of their deaths is gruesomely clear and heartbreaking. While Therese is still in a coma following the accident, she travels through the dream world and meets two alluring young men, Hypnos, or Hip, and Thanatos, or Than, twin sons of Hades. Hip is a cad—he says things like “Are we going to make out now, or what?”—while Than is quiet and sensitive. Than, whose job is to eternally guide the souls of the dead to the entrance of the underworld, is immediately drawn to Therese. After this fast and eventful introduction, things slow down—way, way down. Than makes a deal with his father: 40 days among humans to try to make Therese his bride, with some stiff and arbitrary conditions attached; these are Greek gods, after all. As Than and Therese flirt with one another, the story plods along with unnecessary subplots and minor characters, as well as turgid descriptions of everyday actions. Things pick up again about two-thirds of the way through: The entire pantheon of Greek gods picks sides, and, in an arena battle sure to thrill Hunger Games fans, Therese shows her mettle. The outcome neatly tees things up for the three books (at least) in the series still to come. But Pohler’s straightforward storytelling might not appeal to many teenagers, and the book’s central metaphor, a dying tree, feels like an afterthought.
Teenage readers might be swept up in the passion between Therese and Than, though the story is unlikely to inflame any sort of literary fervor.Pub Date: Aug. 16, 2012
ISBN: 978-0615685960
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Green Press
Review Posted Online: Jan. 6, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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