Half Lives

Gr 10 Up—Despite the commendable effort to be different from typical dystopian novels, this book doesn't entirely succeed. It follows two story lines. In one, 17-year-old Icie confesses that she's been forced to lie, cheat, steal, and even kill, after she flees DC at her parents' urging and heads to an underground bunker beneath a mountain in the Nevada desert because of an imminent bioterrorist attack. She's joined en route by irrepressible cheerleader, Marissa; younger casino heir, Tate; and gorgeous part Native American, Chaske. Being forced to remain underground for months, not knowing what's happening outside, takes its toll on them all. Things get worse when Tate discovers leaking nuclear waste stored in the bunker. The other story line takes place hundreds of years later after terrorist attacks destroyed the Time Before. Teenaged Beckett and his small group of followers worship the same mountain where Icie's secret bunker was built. They are descendants of the Survivors from before and worship the Great I Am, a name derived from artifacts from Icie's time. They spend their time defending the mountain against terrorists (complete with fangs and poisonous venom) and inhabitants from nearby Vega. When Beckett falls for Vegan Greta, a deadly power struggle ensues within the group. Icie's first-person account is more compelling than the story about Beckett, told in third person. In the latter, his plight is harder to relate to and the frequent switches between the two plots take readers out of the story. Still, this is a gritty, fast-paced read that offers a different look at the nature of faith and the power of miscommunication while celebrating the will to survive.—Sharon Rawlins, New Jersey State Library, Trenton