Tag: conspiracy

Posted in Adventure, Fiction, Science Fiction, Teen, Tween Reads, Young Adult/New Adult

Gifted versus Ashkind: Helena Coggan’s The Catalyst

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

catalystThe Catalyst, by Helena Coggan, (Oct. 2016, Candlewick Press), $17.99, ISBN: 9780763689728

Recommended for ages 12+

A dimensional cataclysm on our world turned the human race against one another: some are green-eyed Gifted, who wield magical powers; others are dark-eyed, non-magical Ashkind. A fragile peace is in place after a great war between Gifted and Ashkind, but there seems to be signs that something’s brewing again. Rose is a 15 year-old girl whose father, David, is in charge of the Department, a brutal law enforcement agency. David and Rose are gifted, and something… more. Something they must keep others from finding out. A mysterious murder suspect knows their secrets, though, and he’s blackmailing Rose into helping him – putting her loyalty to her father, and the Department, to test.

Helena Coggan was 15 years old when she wrote The Catalyst, and that alone makes it pretty darned impressive. She’s got some solid world-building in this first book (the second, The Reaction, has already been released in the UK), and I liked a lot of her character development. The action is well-paced, and the dystopian elements of the individual leading a group against the shadowy government is tweaked to include magic elements, a nice update to the genre. There was quite a bit to keep sorted for me at first, especially with the introduction of other groups like the Host; it took me a few re-reads of some pages to set them within the frame of the book. All in all, a good addition to dystopian/sci fi collections for those with strong readerships.

Helena Coggan’s got a WordPress site that has a nice photo and description of The Reaction, for anyone who wants to know more about the Angel Wars series.

Posted in Uncategorized

dotwav – Are You Listening?

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

dotwavdotwav, by Mike A. Lancaster, (Sept. 2016, Sky Pony Press), $17.99, ISBN: 9781510704046

Recommended for ages 12+

Ani Lee is a 15 year-old hacker who’s been given a file to keep safe. It’s no ordinary file, and people are after it – after Ani.

Joe is a 17 year-old American living in London, working for a top secret arm of British intelligence. He’s got a chip in his head that helps him control his violent temper, and it gives him some pretty incredible abilities. He’s checking out a new music craze among nerds – X-Core – and a possible link between this underground music scene and the disappearance of an old school friend.

Joe and Ani meet as their investigations converge, and they realize that the .wav file is no ordinary sound file. There’s something in that file that’s causing some pretty crazy reactions, and it’s directly linked to the X-Core movement. Conspiracy theorists, put on your tin foil hats, because the plot goes all the way up and involves some very important people. People who will kill to get what they want.

I do miss a good cyberpunk novel, and dove into dotwav, looking forward to a good technothriller. And dotwav is a good read, it just didn’t knock my socks off like I hoped it would. Something in the execution just fell a little flat for me. There were quite a few instances of over-explanation and soapboxing that dialed my interest down, for starters. I didn’t feel like I was invested enough in the characters to root for or against them. I did like where they went with the .wav file’s origin, but the conspiracy faltered a little. The ending left the possibility of a sequel open.

Add this to your shelves if you have techno-thriller, cyberpunk readers. I’d display it with some Cory Doctorow books, particularly Little Brother; for readers bridging the middle grade-YA gap, I’d also put out a copy of Dragons vs Drones. I know I’m dating myself, but I’d talk up Mr. Robot and the James Bond movies – and all the cool gadgets! – to flesh out Ani and Joe’s backgrounds and make them a little more tangible to my readers.

Posted in Horror, Humor, Teen, Tween Reads

After Dark: There’s something very creepy going on in this town…

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

after dark After Dark, by James Leck (Aug. 2015, Kids Can Press), $16.95, ISBN: 9781771381109

Recommended for ages 11-14

Charlie Harker is not having a great day. He’s in trouble on his last day of school; his mom met him to tell him there’s no more money left – their absentee dad spent them all into debt, and she’s putting Charlie, his sister, Lillith, and his brother, Johnny, to work over the summer to renovate his grandfather’s old inn in the boring town of Rolling Hills. The only excitement seems to come from local conspiracy nut, Miles Van Helsing.

Charlie realizes, pretty quickly, that there may be something to Miles’ ramblings. People are acting weird, and Charlie decides to help Miles investigate further. There’s definitely something going on in Rolling Hills, but will Charlie and Miles be the next victims?

This is a fun humor/horror story; think of Invasion of the Body Snatchers meets old-school Fright Night. There are some nice nods to horror history, including references to George Romero and The Lost Boys, not to mention the obvious Dracula references in the boys’ last names. The ending leaves the possibility for a sequel. It’s a good end-of-summer read, and readers who shy away from gore and horror may be drawn in by the sarcastic narration and overall humor.

Posted in Fiction, Uncategorized

Conspiracy Girl- a new heroine on the scene?

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

conspiracy girlConspiracy Girl, by Karen Chacek/Illus. by Abraham Balcazar (Sept 2015, Cinco Puntos Press), $14.95, ISBN: 9781935955986

Recommended for ages 8-13

It all starts when Nina’s born. She’s a girl, which sets off riots, because everyone expected a boy. Then, these mangy, shifty looking birds follow her home from the hospital. All Nina needs is her dad’s laughter, though, to see through grown-ups’ crazy behavior, and a box of cereal and her imagination to fend off the birds. It seems that the birds are out to get Nina, and she’s going to save the world by seeing them for what they really are.

While I enjoyed the art for Conspiracy Girl, the story took several readings to click for me. I’m concerned it will go over many younger readers’ heads, and that older readers – think fans of Emily the Strange -may have a hard time connecting with Nina and her story. That said, it does make for an interesting read, and can spark some interesting discussions about Nina, her father, and how exactly she’s going to save the world.

Conspiracy Girl was originally published in Spanish in 2009.

Posted in Science Fiction, Teen, Uncategorized, Young Adult/New Adult

Edge of Forever – a murder mystery travels through time

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

edge of foreverThe Edge of Forever, by Melissa Hurst (2015, Sky Horse) $14.99, ISBN: 978-1-63220-424-0

Recommended for ages 12+

In 2146, a group of teens takes a school trip back in time to observe a crucial point in history. Bridger, a 17 year-old boy in the class, sees his father in the crowd – but his father’s dead. Before Bridger loses track of his dad, he receives a cryptic message to prevent a murder in another time.

In 2013, 16 year-old Alora lives with her Aunt Grace and has so many questions about the family who abandoned her to Grace’s care 11 years earlier. Alora knows her aunt knows more than she’s letting on, and Alora is determined to find out what’s going on – but she’s also desperate to find out why she blacks out and wakes up in a different place.

Bridger time shifts to 2013 to carry out his father’s mission, but his determination to stay uninvolved in events that could change the timestream is challenged when he meets Alora – who happens to be the object of his mission.

Edge of Forever is a good sci-fi story, with interesting and conflicted characters and a strong plot and subplot. There are conspiracies and plot twists throughout the story to keep readers on their toes, and you will cringe every time you realize that Bridger is about to corrupt the time stream (the Trekkie in me yelled, “Don’t violate the Prime Directive!” at least three times).

There are moments that readers may need to go back and re-read – there are a lot of threads to keep sorted here – but when is that a bad thing? I’m interested in whether or not we’re getting a sequel, because I need to know more about some of the characters that were introduced. Everyone here has the potential for deep storytelling, making this book a hot choice for summer reading and book club chats.

The Edge of Forever is Melissa Hurst’s first book. You can check out her author site to follow her on social media, read her blog, and check out some interviews and guest posts from the Edge of Forever blog tour.

Posted in Fiction, Middle School, Science Fiction, Teen, Tween Reads

Henry and the Incredibly Incorrigible, Inconveniently Intelligent Smart Human makes humans the invention.

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

henry and the humanHenry and the Incredibly Incorrigble, Inconveniently Intelligent Smart Human, by L.A. Messina. Tater Tot Books (2014), eBook: $3.99 ISBN: 9780984901838

Recommended for ages 10-14

Henry is a young teen robot in his 13th upgrade. He’s not the popular kid at school, and he has a faulty processor that comes from a virus that attacked his system when he was younger. When his father’s boss shows up at their home one night with a new human model to test for the market, Henry is thrilled – his own human! But this human isn’t a slack-jawed, drooling blank slate like most humans are. This one makes up words, can do things without extensively detailed commands, and doesn’t want to sleep in his box because it’s not comfortable. At first, Henry is worried – what if this human goes berserk like the one that went on a rampage in his mother’s business? – but he comes to realize that the HueManTech ETC-420- GX-2, or “E”, as Henry calls him, is a very special model.

Unfortunately, Henry’s not the only one who thinks “E” is special, which leads to a taut race to unravel the truth about E, especially when the government begins showing an interest in E and Henry’s family.

The book starts out slow as Ms. Messina establishes the drudgery of Henry’s young teen life – mocked at school, boring job at his mother’s spa, Henry is the lonely kid who takes comfort in his comic books and video games, until something exciting – E’s arrival – sparks up his life. Even then, the narrative moves at a slower pace as Henry discovers how special E really is. But once the plot kicks into motion, involving the government and the origins for both E and Henry, the story moves at a great pace that kept me turning pages and wanting to know more.

The book, available via e-book format, is a good read for tweens and young teens. It provides a wealth of opportunities to discuss what would happen in a society where robots were on the top of things and humans were the creation; it also offers chances to discuss morality and the government. It would be a good discussion group story for educators to encourage among their students and patrons.

Lynn Messina’s website offers a book trailer for Henry, along with fun extras for readers.

Posted in History, Non-Fiction, Tween Reads

Book Review: Chasing Lincoln’s Killer, by James L. Swanson (Scholastic Press, 2008)

Posted on by Rosemary Kiladitis

Recommended for ages 12+

Chasing Lincoln’s Killer is the story of the plot to kill President Abraham Lincoln, the assassination and ensuing manhunt for John Wilkes Booth and his fellow conspirators. Author James L. Swanson based this YA version on his previous book, Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln’s Killer (William Morrrow, 2006).

A lifelong Lincoln aficionado who shares the 16th President’s birthday, the author wanted to bring his story to a younger audience. He never dumbs down the narrative to reach this audience; rather, he makes it more accessible by featuring over 70 photos of artifacts, newspapers and photos taken from various archives; he summarizes trial manuscripts and interviews, and moves the events along at a pace that younger, less patient readers will enjoy and stick with.

Scholastic’s website offers free teaching resources to use with the book including an audio book excerpt, video interview with the author, and printable Wanted! poster for Booth.

Manhunt received an Edgar Award for the best true crime book of the year in 2007; Chasing Lincoln’s Killer has received recognition as a Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) Best Book for Young Adults. Mr. Swanson holds a seat on the advisory council of the Ford’s Theatre Society. He has collected books and artifacts on President Lincoln since he was 10 years old and has written a photographic history, Lincoln’s Assassins: Their Trial and Execution.