Sci-Fi Pick: Diabolic

Read more: Publisher's Weekly interview with S.J. Kincaid 

The Diabolic
by S.J. Kincaid
Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
2016
416 pages
ISBN: 9781481472678

The Diabolic available November 1, 2016

S.J. Kincaid's exciting new adventure story takes place in space where senators rule a galactic Senate keeping all technology away from the common people, the Excess, and their planets. In this way, mere humans  will remain subservient.Science is forgotten and only machines can fix other machines. Humans lack the knowledge to repair any of their spaceships and many are breaking down and vanishing into deep space. The powerful senate would rather lose a few ships then give humans knowledge and power that could overthrow their rule.

 Diabolics were created from human DNA to be ruthless and to kill in order to save their charge. Diabolics lack feelings like empathy and love; they kill without emotion or remorse. Diabolics are not human and they undergo genetic modifications to imprint them on their masters.

Nemesis is selected out of a training pen by a powerful senator's wife to guard her young daughter. Nemesis and Sidonia grow up together almost as sisters, at least in Sidonia's mind. Nemesis cannot feel love, but she knows she would do anything to protect Sidonia. The Emperor declares death for all Diabolics, but Nemesis is hidden away by Sidonia's parents. When Sidonia is summoned to the galactic court by the powerful Emperor who is angry with Sidonia's father for studying science, the Matriarch decides to use Nemesis as a stand in for her own daughter, keeping Sidonia safe at home. Nemesis must now fit in among her superiors; she must pretend to be meek and mild Sidonia and not the trained and ruthless killing machine Nemesis. If she is discovered, she will be killed--and even worse, she will bring death to Sidonia and her family.


One slip of the tongue, one misused phrase, one gaff in manner can give her away. Nemesis isn't afraid of the powerful and treacherous court; she is terrified of hurting Sidonia. Nemesis crushes down her instincts to break necks and stomp on heads.

There is much to debate and discuss in The Diabolic: what place does religion have in science and vice versa? Should religion fear science? Should science be maintained only by a select few? Artificial intelligence--when is enough enough?  Just because we find a cure for something, when do we know whether it is right to use the cure if it causes other events? What part does power play in science? In religion?

The Diabolic is a solid YA sci-fi adventure that is sure to appeal to the masses. Though I am not usually a sci-fi reader, I was drawn to The Diabolic due to the character of Nemesis--the girl who is not a girl but so much, much more.

Highly recommended for high school readers and collections. Violence and mature situations make this a high school pick.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received the ARC from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review. 





Striking cover art is eye-catching and provocative. Smart marketing uses red tipped (evocative of blood) butterfly wings with steel blades ( violence and warfare) and a  a part of white wing (purity?)to sell the cover. Kincaid fans of Insignia will not be disappointed by this exciting new stand alone adventure..

Adventure Pick: Kalahari

Kalahari
by Jessica Khoury
Razorbill
2015
354 pages
ISBN: 9781595147653


Exciting and action packed, Kalahari is sure to please. This is one adventure teen readers will be glad they took!


Growing up the only child to zoologist parents in remote Africa has prepared Sarah for just about any encounter in the natural world; any encounter except with city teens her own age, that is. When Sarah's parents invite five teens to an experimental program, she is terrified of what to say to them and  how they will react with her. Her best friend is Theo. He has guided her over the years to survive in the Kalahari. He tells Sarah not to worry; that she's a teen just like them. He could not be more wrong. Sarah has nothing in common with the kids who have arrived. They are used to creature comforts like clean beds, fresh water, air conditioning and electricity.

When Theo and her father have to leave their camp to investigate what they think are poachers,  Sarah knows something has gone terribly wrong. She is now responsible for the helpless new kids. Cute arrival Sam offers to help. He says he trusts her and will help her find her father and Theo. They  must find food, water and shelter and get to the nearest town without poachers, wild animals or something much, much worse finding them first. Sarah calls upon all her skills to find the way to a small town. Anything can go wrong. They could die of dehydration or starvation. They could wander around for days without knowing if they are going in the right direction or not. The elements will take a toll on all of them unless they get to civilization fast.

The kids know something is wrong when animals begin to act strangely. Sarah spots a silver lion who threatens her. Knowing that a male lion does not attack unprovoked, Sarah searches for answers. The kids discover a lab that she thinks her mother must also have discovered just moments before her death. Could the silver lion and Sarah's mother have something in common? Where are the lab workers? Why have they fled?

Maybe not knowing the answers to all her questions is the safest bet but Sarah is strong and inquisitive. She has Sam to depend on when the going gets tough and it is getting tougher. Sarah begins to feel lightheaded and she can't blame it all on dehydration. Sam is seriously turning up the heat.

Kalahari will take readers on a wild adventure to a different part of the world than most are familiar with. They will love Sarah and empathize with her tragic discovery about her mother's death. Most of all, readers will want Sarah to survive and save the other teens from death.

Highly recommended grade 7-up. No profanity. No sex. Violence, science gone wrong, genetics gone wrong, evil scientists.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

This review has been posted in compliance with the FTC requirements set forth in the Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising (available at ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005revisedendorsementguides.pdf)

Paranormal Pick: The Prey (book 2)

The Prey
by Andrew Fukuda
St. Martin's Griffin
2013
322 pages

Disturbing, dark, dystopian, and dangerous, The Prey picks up the action where The Hunt left off. Andrew Fukuda sure  knows how to tell a story--his deft prose and sense of timing heighten the reader's excitement as Gene and Sissy struggle to uncover secrets about Gene's father and the new village they are being kept "prisoner" in.

The Mission tells its members that their rules are for the good of everyone, but Gene and Sissy sense something completely sinister in the Mission's rules and its stanglehold on the girls of the village. Except for a few chubby male elders, there aren't any men or boys in the village--just very young children. The girls walk around singing and smiling but Sissy finds out it's because they fear for own well being and lives.

After excaping ravenous and ferocious hepers down a river and riding a waterfall, Gene and the kids end up in an underwater cavern. They are able to climb out of it and discover an old cabin. A strange girl  appears and takes them to the Mission.

The elders keep asking Gene for the Origin, the cure for the hepers that the scientist ( Gene's father) was working on all those years. Gene honestly doesn't know what they're talking about. The days pass, and Gene and Sissy start uncovering all sorts of clues. They finally confront Krugman, the leader of the Mission.  He tells them that a train brings in all the Mission's supplies and that the same train will take them to the Promised Land. Gene and Sissy think it's a trap, and they need answers right now. They search the scientist's workshop hoping to find something...anything....

With conflicting stories: one story goes that there's  a promise of a land of milk and honey just at the end otf the train ride; the other story is that the train will travel right into the belly of the beast. Do the kids dare get on the train? Where does the train take them? To Paradise? Or to the Heper Palace where humans are raised as meat for the Ruler? If Paradise waits at the end of the ride, why didn't Gene's father get on the train? And why would his father kill himself instead of getting on a train bound for Paradise?

Non-stop action and fierce fight scenes hurtle the reader to the riveting ending. Can any of us really wait until September 2013 to read book 3? I want to read it now!

Highly, highly recommended for fans of paranormal grade 7-up. No language. Some fighting. Sissy is searched and branded. The girls of the mission are basically like breeding cows, but no details. If you have The Hunger Games and other YA titles similar, The Prey is a title for you.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

Sci-Fi Thriller Pick: Unremembered

Unremembered
by Jessica Brody
Farrar Straus Giroux
2013
320 pages

Available March 5, 2013


Visit the author's website to see the U.S. and U.K. covers and download the first five chapters here

Author Jessica Brody just keeps getting better. Her earlier novels 52 Reasons to Hate My Father and My Life Undecided were funny and spunky, but Unremembered is taut, thrilling, complex and supercool. The pages practically turn themselves. Don’t sit down with this book if you have anything planned. You’ll be cancelling your plans in order to finish this exciting sci-fi thriller in one sitting.

Waking up in the water seems crazy. The only thing she remembers is “1609.” Is it a year? Or a code? Is it an address? They tell her she’s been in a horrible plane crash and that she’s the only survivor. The doctors and nurses try to help her remember, but she doesn’t remember anything: not her name, not her address, nothing of her past; she doesn’t even know what common items are: a television or a computer, for example. The media covering her story makes her the darling of network television, but no family members step forward to claim her.

She seems to remember a boy visiting her bedside and claiming to know her. He tells her he’s going to get her out of there, but then he vanishes. The nurses begin calling the Jane Doe “Violet” since that’s the color of her eyes. And another thing, Violet is drop-dead--runway model--gorgeous.
Soon, she is well enough to leave the hospital and the state finds a foster home with a family who has one younger son Cody. Violet leaves the hospital with her only belonging: a mysterious locket with the inscription: S + Z = 1609—that’s the number she remembered when they pulled her from the water! What could it mean?

Soon, Violet discovers her real name is Seraphina and that she can do difficult math problems in her head and that she speaks Russian fluently. Is she Russian? Seraphina discovers that not only is she blessed with model good looks she also has super-human strength and speed. She begins to notice her body can do incredible things. Cody tries to help Seraphina discover who and what she really is.

When she visits the airport where her plane took off, she discovers that she was never even on that plane? How did she get in the water? And who are the people who seem to be following her? And where is the mysterious boy who appeared in her hospital room? And why can’t she remember anything in her past?

Don’t miss this exciting new YA thriller. It’s going to be HUGE! And it has already been optioned for film by the producer and screenwriter responsible for the movies The Departed and The Ring.

I can’t say enough about how much I LOVED this book. It pulled me in from the very first page and raced me along at a breakneck pace through the pages. I was only sorry when the thrill ride came to an end. Readers won’t have to wait long though; this is book 1 in a planned trilogy. Fans will be clamoring for more.

Highly, highly recommended for all paranormal romance junkies grade 7-up. Some romance, some sci-fi.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.
This review has been posted in compliance with the FTC requirements set forth in the Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising (available at ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005revisedendorsementguides.pdf)

Dystopian Pick: Unwholly

Unwholly
by Neal Shusterman
Simon & Schuster
2012
402 pages

Disturbing, chilling, dark, and sickly dystopian, Unwholly is a tour de force. This is the second book in the Unwind series, and Shusterman is superb!

Captivating but broken characters carry the plot along. Unwholly is set in the not so distant future where medicine can cure just about anything. Parents who can no longer “parent” turn to a system that can take their errant teen off their hands. The kids get shipped off to a facility where they are unwound, or basically taken apart and sold for parts. One arm here, one eye there, one spinal cord over there. Of course, the parents think they’re doing the right thing—allowing their broken teen to live on in many other people. Imagine, a blind boy getting new eyes, a cripple walking, a car accident victim given another limb. What a great program, the parents think.

Some teens are able to escape and form a resistance movement. Led by the Akron AWOL, or Connor Lassiter, the teens live in the Phoenix desert holed up in an airplane graveyard. Connor is getting nervous. He knows the Juvies, sadist cops who turn in Unwinds, know about the graveyard and know that there are hundreds of kids living there. Why aren’t they making a move, Connor wonders. Why are they leaving us alone, he asks. When he finds out there’s a traitor in his own camp, he realizes that the kids may have to make a run for it.

Risa, Connor’s sometime girlfriend, is captured and becomes the face of Proactive Citizenry—the organization responsible for thousands of teens’ unwindings. Not only that, Proactive Citizenry has a new project on its hands—it’s produced the very first artificially developed human Camus. Camus is a scientific and genetic miracle to behold. He is made from over 100 different Unwinds and was developed to show the public what the future holds. Cam falls in love with Risa but she turns on him; he promises he will never let her go; he will search for her forever.

The camp is compromised and the kids are in for a huge fight. Just when Connor and Lev think it’s over, they see the milk of human kindness. Unwholly sets up nicely for book 3—where some important questions will be answered and the plot will UNWIND (pun definitely intended).

Shusterman belongs in the ranks of sci-fi giants George Orwell and Ray Bradbury. Unwholly is wholly great! I raced through this book, and teens will, too. Don’t pick this one up unless you’re ready to stay up until the wee hours.

Highly, highly recommended grades 7-up. No sex. One g-word.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I purchased this book for my library. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

This review has been posted in compliance with the FTC requirements set forth in the Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising (available at ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005revisedendorsementguides.pdf)

Dystopian Pick: Fever (Book 2, The Chemical Garden Trilogy)

Fever
by Lauren DeStefano
Simon & Schuster
2012
352 pages


Available February 21, 2012

Watch the book trailer for Wither (book 1) here

Dark, dystopian, and disturbing, book 2 of The Chemical Garden is much darker than the first novel--Wither. In Wither we met Rhine, a young girl kidnapped, taken far from home, and forced into marriage with other sister- wives and we met Gabriel, a servant who works on the grounds of the fine mansion. Rhine hates it it the mansion; she doesn't want to be the wife of a man she doesn't love. She wants to go home and see her twin brother Rowen. Gabriel agrees to help Rhine escape and together they run.

Fever picks up where Wither left off. Gabriel and Rhine are on the run but with no plan, no money, no clothes, and no idea how to get to Manhattan and find Rowen. They see tents in the distance and hear laughter and party noise, so they think they can spend the night there, but they are taken prisoner by a strange madwoman who calls herself Madame. She runs a circus-like and macabre group of prostitutes with her hired muscle--brutal bodyguards who enforce her rules. Madame drugs Gabriel and Rhine with mindless opiates and plans to get top dollar for selling Rhine to the highest bidder.

Again, the two escape but are on the run again. They take Maddie, a malformed child of Lilac, a woman who helped them escape. The three flee and finally make it to Manhattan but are terrified when they find that Rhine's home is burned to ruins and Rowen cannot be found.

Rhine falls victim to an unexplanable fever and has strange memories of her parents and some long-held secret of her and Rowen's birth. Vaughn (Rhine's evil father-in-law) finds Rhine and takes her back to the mansion where he tells her he has been tracking her all along. Rhine is once again a helpless victim of his cruel experiments.

Book 3 promises to answer all the story's questions: What experiments were Rhine's parents working on when they were killed? Who is behind their deaths? Why does everyone keep saying that Rhine is "special?" Where is Rowen? Will Gabriel and Rhine ever be re-united? Does Linden believe that his father (Vaughn) is experimenting on Rhine and the other women of the house?

Teens who love a well-written and scintillating story--action packed and chilling--will love Fever. It's cutting, caustic, and creepy--thrilling right to the satisfying last pages.

The shocking cliffhanger at the ending has me hooked--I will be first in line--fighting off teenagers--to get my hands on this book!

Highly, highly recommended grades 9-up. Very dark, dystopian fiction--not for the faint of heart-- and not a flowery romance. For mature readers only. Mentions genetics, the government wants to artificially inseminated girls as young as 10 to insure their race will survive, girls are forced into prostitution and marriages, girls are basically being used as breeders, one scene where Rhine narrowly escapes rape, shocking "medical" experiments, and children get killed if they are not genetically "correct."

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.

Dystopian Pick: Partials--Coming Soon!

Partials
by Dan Wells
Balzer + Bray
2012
480 pages (page count from publisher's website)

Available 2/28/12

Watch the book trailer here

Chilling, creepy, and caustic, Partials is a provocative dystopian thrill-ride. After an apocalyptic war with the Partials, super-soldiers designed by Paragen, a genetics corporation, to kill the human race, some human survivors band together in New York and try to find a way to defeat RM, a dangerous and stubborn virus released by the Partials that attacks all new human births. Babies born after the war with the Partials die within a few days. Unless scientists can figure out a way to cure them, the human race is doomed.

Kira works in the hospital monitoring new births and recording all vital statistics. She is furious that the babies are dying. All she sees is babies being born, doctors and nurses recording their data, and babies dying. No one is thinking up a new way to study RM. Kira realizes the only ones who aren't dying of RM are the Partials. They are immune.

Kira approaches her boyfriend Marcus, her best friend Madison and her husband Haru, and a few other soldiers and recruits them to accompany her on a dangerous and eventful mission: enter enemy territory and kidnap a Partial. She plans to bring the Partial back to the hospital to study his blood and tissue samples to try to find a cure for RM and a way to save humanity.

The Hope Act passed by the Senate has just dropped the age for mandatory pregnancy. Girls age sixteen are now expected to have at least one pregnancy per year, hoping that the more babies being born will insure that someday one will live. Kira knows more babies born each year just guarantees that more babies will die, and now the law affects her, too; Kira turns sixteen.

The mission is a success with casualties. The Partial is sedated and taken to the lab. Kira is in trouble with the Senate, but they listen and give her five days to test the subject. As she spends more time with the Partial, she begins to empathize with him--he looks human, he acts almost human, he must have feelings, he must be lonely and scared. She learns his name is Samm--and this makes him a "person." Marcus is worried that Kira is treating the enemy like a human and that she may actually be falling in love with him.

When the Senate tries to manipulate the situation and kill Samm, Kira counts on her friends and Samm to help her escape and cure RM. What Kira finds on her journey is shocking; it changes her whole world.

The ending left this reader wondering what will happen next? A sequel, perhaps? Yep, on checking the author's website, book two is Failsafe. Kira can't just walk away--not with the new information about her past and her life. Will humanity make a comeback? Will the Partials and the humans make peace?

The cover and the print on the front cover, "The only hope for humanity isn't human" will attract teen readers. The strong female protagonist is not only determined but downright pig-headedly stubborn and she will resonate with girls and boys. I appreciated the fact that the author left romance out of the equation almost entirely--humans are fighting for survival and bombs are blowing up everywhere--who has time for romance? Trying to save the world is a full-time job!

Highly, highly recommended grades 9-up. Violence and death. The fact that teen girls are incubators and love is nearly non-existant is best for upper grades.

Don't forget to watch the trailer here

FTC required disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. I did not receive any monetary compensation for this review.

Paranormal Thriller: Wolf Mark

Wolf Mark
by Joseph Bruchac
Lee & Low
2011
392 pages
Available September 2011

Finally...a paranormal book with bite that boys will like! No sappy romantic vampires or longing for unrequited love here just a rollicking thrill ride that will have both boys and girls turning pages long into the dark and stormy night.

The novel starts off in a typical paranormal fashion--a teenager who is a little different finds out what he truly is, what his destiny is, and how he can never be a normal teen...but then... just when the reader thinks the book will continue in paranormal fashion, it takes a sharp left turn into an action/adventure/espionage thriller.

Lucas King is tired of moving around. He and his father have moved countless times in the past couple of years and Lucas has had it. Why can't they just stay in one place? Why can't they put down roots? He is starting to get comfortable at RHS and has a good friend Renzo and an "almost" girlfriend Meena, but something is just not right. There's the sunglass mafia that seem to be following him around, spying on him. They are Russian-born kids in town since their fathers work at one of the multi-national firms. There's something weird about them; Lucas can sense it.

Then Lucas's father disappears. Before he does, he calls Lucas and tells him through code words--not to go home, EVER, and that he has been taken by someone--an enemy, and to go to their secret message site for more insturctions. Lucas knows the code, he knows how to track, how to hide, how to live off the land, hand-to-hand combat, some martial arts and covert techniques. You see, Lucas has been trained to become what he must: a shadow-walker or werewolf.

The sunglass mafia grabs his friend Renzo to convince Luke to work with them. They are after the people who kidnapped Luke's father, too. Their must destroy the factory that is attempting to use "special" people like themselves to develop a super-soldier. Vampires and wolves will have to work together in order to survive.

Lucas is a cool wolf--way cooler than the typical howl-at-the-moon werewolf. Author Joseph Bruchac developed the wolves in Wolf Mark to be more human than wolf. They are capable of speech and can use their paws--which look and function like human hands. They are not full of bloodlust but capable of human thought and planning.

I loved this paranormal turned action-packed adventure novel. This one is sure to please fans of paranormal and adventure novels. Wolf Mark will have wide appeal among both male and female readers. Bruchac drew on his Abenaki culture and Slavic roots to develop his characters. This novel is unique enough that I think Hollywood may soon be knocking on Bruchac's door!

Highly, highly recommended grades 7-up. No sex, no language. Some violence.

FTC Required Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. I did not receive monetary compensation for this review.