Review of The Girl With All the Gifts by M.R. Carey

Carey, M.R.  The Girl With All the Gifts.  Orbit, 2014.

Melanie loves school and soaks up new information like a sponge.  She is inquisitive and has the IQ of a genius.  She would also do anything in the world for her wonderful teacher, Miss Justineau.  So why is she, along with a roomful of other children, kept strapped to a wheelchair instead of being able to run and play?  And why don't the guards laugh when she tells them that she won’t bite?  Melanie and the other children are “hungries”, or zombies.  However, when most of the population has succumbed to the parasite that has changed them, these children still have human traits, emotions, and an elevated level of intelligence.  They are even able to control, to some extent, their desire for human flesh.

Every now and then Melanie notices that students disappear from her classroom and never return.  It is revealed that the children are test subjects for a project run by Dr. Caldwell, a scientist employed by the British government.  She is in the process of cutting portions of their brains and studying how the parasite affects them.

When the base is attacked by “hungries” and “junkers”, violent human nomads, Melanie, Miss Justineau, and Dr. Caldwell flee in a humvee driven by Sergeant Parks, the head guard at the base, and Private Gallagher, another guard.  They must work together and get along to try to reach the city of Beacon safely.   It may be the only town left in all of England.

This fast-paced novel is intended for adults, but I consider it to also be a crossover novel for young adults.  In the summary, it is not revealed to be a zombie novel, but readers will make that discovery by the end of the first chapter.

Pandora’s Box, Melanie’s favorite story, plays a big part in the plot, hence the book’s title.  Relationships are significant, especially the one between Melanie and Miss Justineau.  Readers will learn a lot about zombie science and the way the human brain operates.  The novel is filled with action and adventure--there are chase scenes, shootouts, and gruesome, gory deaths.  The story is told in multiple points of view, and the characters are interesting and mulitfacted.

Readers will enjoy this new, refreshing take on zombies.  I recommend it for high school and public libraries and give it four out of five fleur de lis!

Review of Fire and Flood by Victoria Scott

Scott, Victoria.  Fire and Flood.  Scholastic, 2014.

Tella Holloway’s brother, Cody, is very sick and dying.  When, out of the blue, she gets a chance to try to save his life, she jumps at it.  Against her parents’ wishes, she enters the Brimstone Bleed.  The prize is The Cure—the remedy to save her brother’s life.  To win, Tella will have to journey across a jungle, a desert, an ocean, and the mountains against other Contenders.  There is only one prize, and she vows she will win it for Cody.

The Contenders’ only help comes from their Pandoras, genetically engineered animals with unique fantastical abilities.   Tella’s Pandora, KD-8, which she names Madox, is a black fox with bright green eyes.  He has the power to morph into other Pandoras and to read Tella’s thoughts.

As Tella bands together with other Contenders, she discovers that some Contenders are helpful and kind, while others are cutthroat and brutal.  What Tella eventually discovers from Guy Chambers, another Contender, is that not everything is at it seems, and there is a reason for everything—especially in the Brimstone Bleed.

This book started out eerily similar to The Hunger Games, but ended up being something different entirely.  Tella starts out as an average teenager, but grows and matures as the story develops.  She becomes a  stronger and more compassionate protagonist.  Guy Chambers, Tella’s eventual love interest, is smart and well versed in survival techniques.  However, he has a sweet, caring side that is “swoon-worthy” that will appeal to teen girls.

The mix between science fiction, romance, and adventure will attract both male and female readers.  This book will be enjoyed by readers looking for a book similar to The Hunger Games and by those who enjoy a good survival story.  The second book in the series, Salt and Stone, is expected to be released in March, 2014.

I recommend Fire and Flood for middle school, high school, and public libraries.  I give it four out of five fleur de lis!

Review of A Conspiracy of Kings by Megan Whalen Turner

A Conspiracy of Kings by Megan Whalen Turner; Greenwillow, 2010.

This is the fourth book in the series unofficially known as "The Queen's Thief". Sophos, who is heir to the country of Sounis, hopes that he will never have to fulfill that role. However, his father has tried to prepare him for the throne, providing tutors who have instructed him in swordsmanship and battle strategy, as well as book schooling. One day, his villa is attacked, and Sophos is kidnapped and his estate is burned. He is sold into slavery, working for a power-hungry baron. After Sophos escapes, he discovers he is now King of Sounis. Unfortunately, the Mede Empire would like to rule all of Sounis, Attolia, and Eddis. It falls to Sophos, now called Sounis, to provide a solution that will allow his people to live in peace and freedom.

A Conspiracy of Kings was a fabulous adventure, filled with action, intrigue, romance, and even some mythology references. The plot is extremely complicated, filled with subplots and many characters. I had to keep a running list of characters and refer to it frequently! The descriptions of the characters, battles, and scenery were stunning, filled with minute details and nuances. It was interesting to see how Sophos matured from an unwilling heir into a true leader, outwitting the scheming barons. There is a surprising and unexpected twist at the end of the book!

Although this book could be read as a stand-alone volume, it would be advisable to read the preceding volumes first. Since I had not done that, I had to do some research in order to figure out what had happened previously in the series. Additionally, it took me awhile to figure out that once someone becomes a ruler in his country, he takes the name of the country. Hence, Sophos becomes Sounis because he was the King of the kingdom of Sounis.

A Conspiracy of Kings was on the "2010 Booklist Top Ten Science Fiction/Fantasy Novels for Youth" and was named a "2010 YALSA Best Fiction Nominee for Young Adults". I highly recommend it for middle school, high school, and public libraries.