by Michael Buckley
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
May 2015
This story feels like a new setting for Buckley (The Sisters Grimm and N.E.R.D.S). Lyric Walker, the protagonist, shares a different take on high school and teens who don't fit in -- compounded by a new segregation order put into effect. The not-human Alpha teens face the same threats of violence that history has reported, but now Lyric is in the middle of that violence and change.
What's different about this book
The non-human Alpha came from the ocean, arriving right on the beach at Coney Island where Lyric's family has lived. The different kind of "different" gives the whole story line a fresh feel -- but a familiar one where violence and death and making allies to survive paint a vivid picture of teen life. The story crafting is solid; Buckley is an accomplished author, and this different setting should please a lot of science fiction and dystopian readers. The pacing seemed uneven at times, but the slow and steady development of characters and setting and plot never seemed slow. The end rushes at the reader, though, in tumultuous and enthralling events.
What I'll do now that I've read it
This title will be enthusiastically "book talked" to our YA patrons, as well as to adults who enjoy skillful world-making and plot twists. I regret the book won't be out until May, and it will be even longer before the next book in the series comes out. This will be a worthwhile purchase and read.
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