Nil

Gr 9 Up—When you wake up on the Island of Nil, the rules are simple: you have exactly one year to get off, or you die. That is the predicament that 17-year-old Charley finds herself in when she awakens, naked and alone, plucked from the parking lot of the local Target by a random Nil gate. Eventually, she meets a group of fellow refugees and discovers that teens have been sent here for dozens, possibly, hundreds, of years. When she meets Thad, one of the leaders of the Nil community, she finds the boy of her dreams, and suddenly Charley is determined that she and Thad will get off the island so they can have a life together back home. But Nil is a hard place to survive; escape gates come only once a day, always precisely at noon, and they could pop up anywhere on the island. Told through the alternating viewpoints of Charley and Thad, this story adequately captures their growing love and desperate need to save each other as the clock continues to tick. The concept of Nil is very interesting and well constructed. Teenagers aren't the only creatures the gates bring to the island; there is wildlife pulled in from everywhere, so the danger from wild beasts is always a real threat. While there is conflict and tragedy, Matson seems to have a high opinion of the good nature and resourcefulness of kids left to their own devices. Overall, this book hits its mark.—Erik Knapp, Davis Library, Plano, TX