Five New Mexico teens undergo a soul-cleansing ritual, with varied results.
Consuelo “Lo” McDonough is struggling with a likely diagnosis of early-onset multiple sclerosis, which also took the life of her beloved aunt Karine. When a mysterious but oddly comforting stranger named Jay offers to perform a healing ritual, Lo jumps at the chance, quickly gathering the four similarly damaged friends she needs to complete the group for the ritual. The five teens—grieving Kit, former child soldier Thomas, drug addict Ellen, impervious-to-pain Kaya and Lo herself—discover that though they no longer suffer from their original ailments, their problems have been swapped. Kit receives Ellen’s addictive personality and uses it to embrace life again, nearly a year after his girlfriend’s tragic death, while Ellen’s experience of Lo’s neurological symptoms forces her to be physically and mentally present in a way she hasn’t been in ages. The most spiritually significant transformation is also the most cringe-inducing: When Kaya takes on Thomas’ emotional trauma, she taps into supposed historical memories of white soldiers attacking her American Indian ancestors, with tragic results in the present. Although specific references to legends of and historic atrocities against the American Indians of the Southwest are sprinkled about, there is no attempt to authenticate Kaya’s experience.
The ultimate lesson—of having empathy for oneself as well as for others whose wounds may be invisible—is well-taken though sadly heavy-handed. (Fiction. 12-15)Pub Date: Jan. 22, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-59514-735-6
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Razorbill/Penguin
Review Posted Online: Oct. 21, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2014
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A gripping thriller in dystopic future Los Angeles.
Fifteen-year-olds June and Day live completely different lives in the glorious Republic. June is rich and brilliant, the only candidate ever to get a perfect score in the Trials, and is destined for a glowing career in the military. She looks forward to the day when she can join up and fight the Republic’s treacherous enemies east of the Dakotas. Day, on the other hand, is an anonymous street rat, a slum child who failed his own Trial. He's also the Republic's most wanted criminal, prone to stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. When tragedies strike both their families, the two brilliant teens are thrown into direct opposition. In alternating first-person narratives, Day and June experience coming-of-age adventures in the midst of spying, theft and daredevil combat. Their voices are distinct and richly drawn, from Day’s self-deprecating affection for others to June's Holmesian attention to detail. All the flavor of a post-apocalyptic setting—plagues, class warfare, maniacal soldiers—escalates to greater complexity while leaving space for further worldbuilding in the sequel.
This is no didactic near-future warning of present evils, but a cinematic adventure featuring endearing, compelling heroes . (Science fiction. 12-14)Pub Date: Nov. 29, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-399-25675-2
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: April 8, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2011
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BOOK TO SCREEN
Adventure drags our heroine all over the map of fantasyland while giving her the opportunity to use her smarts.
Elisa—Princess Lucero-Elisa de Riqueza of Orovalle—has been chosen for Service since the day she was born, when a beam of holy light put a Godstone in her navel. She's a devout reader of holy books and is well-versed in the military strategy text Belleza Guerra, but she has been kept in ignorance of world affairs. With no warning, this fat, self-loathing princess is married off to a distant king and is embroiled in political and spiritual intrigue. War is coming, and perhaps only Elisa's Godstone—and knowledge from the Belleza Guerra—can save them. Elisa uses her untried strategic knowledge to always-good effect. With a character so smart that she doesn't have much to learn, body size is stereotypically substituted for character development. Elisa’s "mountainous" body shrivels away when she spends a month on forced march eating rat, and thus she is a better person. Still, it's wonderfully refreshing to see a heroine using her brain to win a war rather than strapping on a sword and charging into battle.
Despite the stale fat-to-curvy pattern, compelling world building with a Southern European, pseudo-Christian feel, reminiscent of Naomi Kritzer's Fires of the Faithful (2002), keeps this entry fresh. (Fantasy. 12-14)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-06-202648-4
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2011
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