An exuberant start to a promising new YA series about a totalitarian America.
Lawson (Resist, 2012, etc.) mixes true-to-life fears with intimate character portrayals in this conspiracy thriller, her first work of YA fiction.
In the not-too-distant future, tensions across the globe escalate, and America transforms into a totalitarian state to protect its citizens. Many basic freedoms and creature comforts, from large public gatherings to grocery shopping, remain distant memories, as the Office of Civilian Safety and Defense assures citizens that these measures will keep them secure. But “Compliance is a small price to pay for your safety” isn’t good enough for Careen Catecher and Tommy Bailey, 18-year-olds whose dark histories give them a unique perspective on threats and control. When the OCSD announces an antidote to a dangerous new terrorist weapon, the public accepts the drug without question. But Careen and Tommy, among others, experience vivid hallucinations and profound disorientation, and it becomes harder and harder to think about why they’re taking the medication. When it becomes clear that the threat is a fabrication and the so-called antidote is nothing but a tool to pacify and control the populace, the two decide they must leave everything behind to escape and find the Resistance. At one point, a Resistance member explains the movement’s philosophy: “Free thinkers, like those of us in the Resistance, want to decide for ourselves what’s good for us. We’d like our private affairs to remain private. We’d like the chance to take a risk.” While the psychedelic quality of some of the early chapters makes it difficult to initially connect with the characters, they quickly grow and morph into striking individuals. Beyond Tommy’s ongoing struggle with injury and Careen’s deep-seated anger, the novel introduces a host of secondary characters with their own senses of purpose and drive, rendering a mad world human. As with many dystopian settings, parts of the conspiracy strain the limits of believability, but the concept here is deeper and more complex than one might expect at first glance. The author delivers intriguing details about this fractured world, from the nuances of how the government divided the country into quadrants to the fact that the antidote contains a large quantity of LSD—a clever reference to America’s real-life experimentation with the drug in Project MKUltra. There’s much here to discover.
An exuberant start to a promising new YA series about a totalitarian America.Pub Date: Aug. 25, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-9966108-0-3
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Lawson Publishing
Review Posted Online: Feb. 11, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A swift fable about navigating the perils of middle school.
A bossy middle school fashionista feels threatened by the new girl in Saii’s YA novel.
Vanessa Pocker and her friends Chelsea, Adrienne and Katie are the richest of the rich in their Santa Monica, Calif., middle school, and they comprise the Sassy Divas. Vanessa leads the pack and dictates whom the divas are allowed to talk to, what they’re allowed to wear and how they conduct themselves in public. Vanessa is so domineering that it’s a miracle she has any friends at all. Had Saii endowed her with an ounce of kindness, the loyalty of her minions might be more understandable. Vanessa’s militant nature finally alienates Katie, the diva who is too much of a bookworm, according to Vanessa. Katie befriends Flo, who’s on the Sassy Diva “do not speak to” list (Flo had once refused to hold Vanessa’s purse). Excommunicated from the Sassy Divas, Katie befriends the new girl at the school, Quinn. This infuriates Vanessa, and she declares war. A power play ensues among the adversarial lip-glossed sets, with Vanessa, Chelsea and Adrienne on one side and Katie, Quinn and Flo on the other. Vanessa turns to guy friend Ryan, who offers the only voice of reason when he admonishes her for obsessing over trivialities, such as revenge and makeovers, when there are starving children in the world. He seems to be nothing more than Vanessa’s sounding board, and it’s unclear what he gets out of the relationship. At least Vanessa buys clothes and makeup for her divas, on occasion. Mired in trendy youngster lingo, Saii’s tale accurately depicts girls’ power plays and the alienation that can result from simply owning jeans without a designer label. Fashion, gossip, popularity and shopping define these characters, and any threat of competition is cause for war. Vanessa’s parents rarely make appearances, except for a poignant scene when Vanessa’s mother engages her daughter in a heart-to-heart about her selfish behavior. It’s a relief to finally hear the mother speak and lead the story to an ending marked with humor and depth. Saii’s literary chops are inconsistently displayed and improve toward the conclusion. Although the average middle school girl may not wear Jimmy Choos or form private elitist groups, young readers might find themselves curious about these affluent trendsetters. At least Vanessa learns her lesson, which raises the novel a notch above teenybopper fluff.
A swift fable about navigating the perils of middle school.Pub Date: March 1, 2013
ISBN: 9781937675080
Page Count: 155
Publisher: Lekha Publishers
Review Posted Online: March 4, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An intriguing, if not always emotionally engaging, story of a serious teen problem.
Somers’ debut young-adult novel follows a teenage boy from sickness to tenuous health as he battles an eating disorder and the problems that helped create it.
Nathan is a typical teen with typical problems, including an unhappy family life and romantic disappointment, but he’s got an unhealthy “solution” for dealing with them: starving and purging himself. His descent into bulimia and anorexia occurs quite quickly; it starts with Nathan taking short bike rides to get away from his domineering father and alcoholic mother, and soon he’s inducing vomiting; not long afterward, he’s admitted to an eating-disorder program, at which point the book seems to find its center. Nathan is the only boy in his unit, a fact that his status-obsessed parents find it hard to understand; in fact, as the book makes clear, boys make up 10 percent of those who suffer from eating disorders. Somers’ novel never falls into “after-school special” territory, but it has a clear message. Nathan is depicted as a smart, cynical teenager, but his trials are sometimes more informative than heart-wrenching. The short chapters, complete with bad teenage poetry, keep the story moving, and Nathan’s dad, mom and nurse all get at least one chance to tell their side of the story. But although these multiple points of view are interesting, they may distract readers from Nathan’s personal trials. Also, the novel sometimes gets bogged down in eating-disorder program protocol; for example, a plan to interrupt Nathan’s family therapy takes two pages of emails, rather than a line or two of dialogue.
An intriguing, if not always emotionally engaging, story of a serious teen problem.Pub Date: Nov. 12, 2012
ISBN: 978-0988367203
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Rundy Hill Press LLC
Review Posted Online: April 30, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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