The Isle

November 1, 2015
After The Ward (2013), Ren must save her adopted sister, Aven, from Gov. Voss while keeping the newly discovered magical spring from him and his plans. Starting immediately where the previous book left off, Ren can't enjoy the celebration of the people for the miracle cure she delivered, because she knows Voss will experiment on Aven. She throws herself immediately into planning a rescue, which succeeds with difficulty and that leaves Aven promising to come back for her fellow prisoners. In this book the narration is split, with Aven's chapters giving insight into her personality and the world at large, though the device works best when the sisters are geographically separated, as at times (especially early on) their voices are quite similar. Meanwhile, with the Blight under control, there's lots of agitation to take on the next big trouble facing the Upper Metro Islets--freshwater availability--through war with water-rich Upstate. At many places the plot is composed of a series of rescues--not just from Voss and his men, but also from the Tetai, the people who guard the spring. Relief from the breakneck pace comes through revelations that, pieced together, explain various characters' motivations, unlock the mystery of Ren's heritage, and reveal other twists. The romance is mild; the protagonists' primary motivation rises from sisterly love. Readers are treated to a solid conclusion. Narrative distractions are overcome by action and character development in this duology closer. (Dystopian adventure. 12-16)

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January 1, 2016

Gr 9 Up-The long-awaited sequel to The Ward (HarperCollins, 2013)! In the previous volume, readers met Ren, a 16-year-old girl who works two jobs-as a drag car racer and as a scout for the "Blues," a secret organization hunting for fresh water since the Wash-Out flooded New York and contaminated the water supply. The Isle picks up right where the previous volume ended, with Ren finding a potential new source of water that has miraculous healing properties, which she uses to save her sister, Aven, from the Blight, a virus killing many people in the Ward. While Ren wants to keep the source of water a secret and use it to save the disease-infected people, she faces two foes who want access to the water for very different agendas. One is Governor Voss, the very man who hired Ren to search for freshwater, while the second is the Tetai, an ancient secret order that has been protecting the water for generations. Purchase where dystopians are still popular.

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2016
In a flooded, disease-stricken NYC, Ren (The Ward) is desperate to rescue her sister, Aven, and overthrow the governor. Doing that, however, means taking on two warring groups and making huge sacrifices. Alternating narrators, Ren and Aven, ramp up suspense, but multiple plot twists threaten to overwhelm the story. Despite the book's rushed ending, fans will persevere to untangle the many threads.

(Copyright 2016 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)