A page-turning tale with engrossing, high-stakes action.
A group of young time travelers must prevent a robot takeover in Peek’s YA SF thriller sequel.
Teens Ethan Tate, Annika Pepper, Caleb Warren, Austin Turnbull, and Glenn Vadenare children of workers at a top-secret military base in Blackwoods, Wyoming.They also make up Team Blackwoods, a squad of Laser Wars players who came together to play a game but ended up discovering a Chrono-Warp device and jumping back in time to save their town—and probably the planet—from an AI–induced robotic uprising. In their previous adventure, chronicled in The Fatal Error (2021), Team Blackwoods found out when a dangerous event will occur in the future, but not exactly what it is or how they can prevent it. They try to anonymously warn military higher-ups, but that results in the town being put on lockdown—and soon, they find that the entire adult population is being replaced by robot duplicates. It’s clear that Team Blackwoods has failed their mission; their only chance is to make their way to the Chrono-Warp device and try again. For this, they’ll need help from an unlikely source: a robot boy named Andy that Ethan’s father has been constructing. But can Team Blackwoods trust Andy to help them carry out their mission? Peek’s story picks up directly from The Fatal Error and assumes that readers have read it, making no attempt to recap events or character descriptions. Despite this, newcomers will quickly become invested in the teens’ mission. Peek writes in a breezy, mostly straightforward style. There are occasional moments of overly exuberant description (“The group held their breath, afraid that the slightest undulation of the expansion and contraction of their lungs might give them away”), but these moments are appealingly reminiscent of kids narrating their own adventures. By highlighting Team Blackwoods’ inexperience, Peek ups the tension of a mission that has distinct Terminator 2: Judgment Day vibes. Overall, the plot is an addictive mixture of low-key adolescent character moments, creepy mystery, and adrenalized heroics, and by the end, readers will be eager for a concluding volume.
A page-turning tale with engrossing, high-stakes action.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Manuscript
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away.
A Mexican American boy takes on heavy responsibilities when his family is torn apart.
Mateo’s life is turned upside down the day U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents show up unsuccessfully seeking his Pa at his New York City bodega. The Garcias live in fear until the day both parents are picked up; his Pa is taken to jail and his Ma to a detention center. The adults around Mateo offer support to him and his 7-year-old sister, Sophie, however, he knows he is now responsible for caring for her and the bodega as well as trying to survive junior year—that is, if he wants to fulfill his dream to enter the drama program at the Tisch School of the Arts and become an actor. Mateo’s relationships with his friends Kimmie and Adam (a potential love interest) also suffer repercussions as he keeps his situation a secret. Kimmie is half Korean (her other half is unspecified) and Adam is Italian American; Mateo feels disconnected from them, less American, and with worries they can’t understand. He talks himself out of choosing a safer course of action, a decision that deepens the story. Mateo’s self-awareness and inner monologue at times make him seem older than 16, and, with significant turmoil in the main plot, some side elements feel underdeveloped. Aleman’s narrative joins the ranks of heart-wrenching stories of migrant families who have been separated.
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-7595-5605-8
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A prototypical survival story: after an airplane crash, a 13-year-old city boy spends two months alone in the Canadian wilderness. In transit between his divorcing parents, Brian is the plane's only passenger. After casually showing him how to steer, the pilot has a heart attack and dies. In a breathtaking sequence, Brian maneuvers the plane for hours while he tries to think what to do, at last crashing as gently and levelly as he can manage into a lake. The plane sinks; all he has left is a hatchet, attached to his belt. His injuries prove painful but not fundamental. In time, he builds a shelter, experiments with berries, finds turtle eggs, starts a fire, makes a bow and arrow to catch fish and birds, and makes peace with the larger wildlife. He also battles despair and emerges more patient, prepared to learn from his mistakes—when a rogue moose attacks him and a fierce storm reminds him of his mortality, he's prepared to make repairs with philosophical persistence. His mixed feelings surprise him when the plane finally surfaces so that he can retrieve the survival pack; and then he's rescued. Plausible, taut, this is a spellbinding account. Paulsen's staccato, repetitive style conveys Brian's stress; his combination of third-person narrative with Brian's interior monologue pulls the reader into the story. Brian's angst over a terrible secret—he's seen his mother with another man—is undeveloped and doesn't contribute much, except as one item from his previous life that he sees in better perspective, as a result of his experience. High interest, not hard to read. A winner.
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1987
ISBN: 1416925082
Page Count: -
Publisher: Bradbury
Review Posted Online: Oct. 18, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1987
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