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The sun sustains our life, but if it were just a smidge closer to us, it could be the death of our delicate little planet. In Kristi Helvig's Burn Out, the planet is a scorched wasteland, but one girl refuses to give in.
Tora Reynolds is the only one left on earth. The sun was knocked closer to earth and has become a Red Giant, burning everything in its wake. Her father, a weapons developer for the government, made sure they would have a safe place to hide for when things eventually went bad (really bad). He planned to protect the whole family, but when her mother and sister died out in the sun, it was just him and Tora. Until his final meeting with the people who wanted their guns didn't go so well. Now, in an underground bunker full of the most dangerous weapons on earth, space, and everything in between, she imagines she will last here for a while, but she has a bottle full of pain pills for Plan B in case everything falls apart.
When Markus, a family "friend," shows up looking to trade with Tora, she turns him down. His deal, the weapons for a ride off the scorched hell hole that Earth has become, is tempting, but she won't let anyone get their hands on those guns and ruin yet another planet. He isn't happy about being turned down, and he returns with a band of mercenaries ready to take the guns from her by force. Tora knew her father trusted Markus, but she was always skeptical about his loyalty. Now that he is ready to kill her for being between him and the guns, she knows her instincts were right. But the idea of a planet with abundant water is very tempting. First things first. If Tora is going to make it to the new planet, she is going to have to trust someone else, but that isn't all that is standing in her way.
Helvig's debut science fiction, post-apocalyptic story was a real knock out! It was so action packed, which is the exact opposite of what you would expect from a burnt out wasteland. Tora was a brave girl to keep going on in such a world, but she was one tough cookie. The fact that she wasn't afraid to get into a shoot-out with heavily armed mercenaries certainly demonstrated that tenacity! I couldn't get enough of her, but sometimes I wished things would go a little better for her. Just once, can't the girl catch a break?
This would be a great book for any kid who likes action-packed books and loses interest easily, because it never seems to slow for a even a moment. There were certainly some unanswered questions by the end, so I hope Helvig continues with the story. The supporting characters were just as interesting as Tora and Markus, so you won't be let down when the action centers around all of them. And the idea of the sun finally being the impetus of our demise is more terrifying than you think! You won't take that sunshine for granted again on a beautiful spring day!
The end of the world can come in so many ways you will make yourself crazy trying to think about all of them! So when you get three different stories who share nothing in common but the end of the world, it might you into a paranoia tailspin where you end up digging a bunker in your backyard! But with 'Til the World Ends by Julie Kagawa, Ann Aguirre, and Karen Duvall, you will welcome the end of the world... in the pages of the book anyway!
Dawn of Eden by Julie Kagawa
Red Lung has decimated the population. Kylie survived an earlier form of the virus, so she has taken that as a sign she was meant to help people. Even as young as she is, she is one of the last still working in a slipshod clinic trying to make people comfortable in their final days. But when a mysterious stranger arrives with a torn-up friend, she can't figure out what happened to them. Ben Archer won't tell her how his friend got hurt, but she knows there is more to the story than just an animal attack. What she doesn't expect is the new virus that turns humans into animals... or where the virus came from.
Thistle and Thorne by Ann Aguirre
The world is a chemical wasteland, but money still separates the haves and the have nots. Mari is trying to take care of her younger brother and sister, but gang overlords don't make that easy. When she is forced into a job for a gang leader, she quickly realizes the job wasn't as easy as she made it out to be. She almost doesn't make it out of the walled city, created to protect the uber-wealthy from having to deal with the starving peasants outside, but Thorne, a former member of the gang, saves her. When she learns the true nature of her mission, she and Thorne, the most unlikely of duos, combine to fight back.
Sun Storm by Karen Duvall
The sun's instability has created solar flares and sun sparks that can kill a person. The earth is scorched and dry, and water and food are a luxury. But something else has happened. For some people, the sun has changed them, made them into Kinetics. There are many different kinds of Kinetics, but they can all do something supernatural. Sarah has the ability to predict the deadly sun storms, and she takes the responsibility of such a gift very seriously. When she happens upon Ian, a Kinetic who can control the weather, she realizes their combined powers have the ability to amplify. But, as if the world weren't dangerous enough, a crazy former government agent is now rounding up Kinetics like a slave trader, and he is hunting Ian. But together, Sarah and Ian are more powerful than anyone could have predicted... or did they?
This was a fun trio of novellas that I really enjoyed. Kagawa's story is a prequel to The Immortal Rules, which was brilliant, by the way, and this prequel gave so much insight into the fall of humanity before that series started. I also really liked Duvall's novella, and I hope she runs with this and continues the story of the Kinetics. It was so fascinating, and the story can easily continue into a series! The one story that wasn't my favorite was Ann Aguirre's. This was surprising, because I have been following her Enclave series since it was first released. I am not fully sure why this was my least favorite story, but it might have been the characters. Mari and Thorne just didn't seem to have a connection, so it made it hard for me to imagine the huge sacrifices they were making. Still, it wasn't a bad story, just not my favorite out of this trio.
The last two stories are clean and good for a wide range of students, but the Kagawa story has a decently graphic sex scene in it. Honestly, I don't think it was anything too graphic, but some might object to giving it to a student who isn't old enough. Basically, if they have read Immortal Rules they shouldn't have a problem with the short story. Otherwise, this collection is a fun group of novellas that might be good for a kid who has trouble with full-length novels, but would like shorter stories to go with their attention span. I know they were perfect for me during a busy work week!
At times a sequel can far surpass the original book. It isn't easy, and rarely does it involve a huge plot shift. In The Scorch Trials, by James Dasher, the sequel to The Maze Runner, the story takes twists and turns that will leave the reader's head spinning. While the first book had the group of boys (Gladers) surviving the terrifying maze that turned out to be a test for scientists to help save the damaged world, this second book takes that horrifying idea even further.
The story begins just after the Gladers were saved from the Maze. They were ushered into a building under the cloak of darkness, fed, and left to sleep away their terrors. When they wake up, the people who brought them there are all dead, hanging in the common room. Thomas goes looking for Teresa, the only girl ever sent to the Glade and the girl he can speak to telepathically, but finds a strange boy in her room and no sign of Teresa. They find out from this boy quickly that there was another Maze- an all girls' maze that ended with Aris arriving as the only boy the same way Teresa arrived in the boys' maze. Stuck in the compound with no way out and bars on the windows (which keeps out the crazy Cranks- people driven to murderous madness by a disease called Flare), the boys spend days starving and wondering if they had been left to die.
Finally, when they are on the brink of starvation induced madness, a Rat-faced man arrives to tell them they are about to begin the next phase of their trials- the Scorch Trials. They will have to exit the compound and make it across the solar-flare ravaged desert, which is teeming with Cranks, in order to get to the safe house where they will be cured of the Flare. If they don't make it to the safe house, they will die by slipping into insanity like so many millions of other people have. The catch? The Scorch trials will make the Maze look paradise.
The Gladers choose to make a run for it, but even the entrance out of the compound and out into the world isn't safe. A weird metallic substance drips from the ceiling and hardens around the heads of the unfortunate, ultimately decapitating them. Once they reach the outside, the sun is so severe it threatens to give third degree burns with only a couple of hours of exposure. After quickly making meager protective shields for the sun, they escape the tunnel and set out across the Scorch. Unfortunately, everything from frighteningly intense electrical storms to cannibalistic Cranks are between them and the cure for their Flare. With the help of a couple of Cranks who aren't too affected by the disease yet, the Gladers who have lasted this far finally have a chance of making it to the safe haven. The last part of the trial, though, may involve more than they had bargained for- especially when they encounter the group of girls from the other maze.
This is a crazy second installment. When you think you have finally figured out the formula for the story, Dashner slaps you in the face with a totally new twist. The characters are put through so much, you can hardly believe any kid could survive long enough to make it to the other side of the trial. The violence is more graphic, the scenarios are more frightening, and the warped government reaches new levels of post-apocalyptic madness. This is a good series for that kid who needs constant action and twists to keep their attention. I think this book is a little like The Maze Runner's juvenile delinquent older brother. It will keep even the most easily distracted reader's attention from cover to cover.
