Scrivener's Moon

Gr 8–11—Picking up where A Web of Air (Scholastic, 2011) left off, this final installment in the trilogy won't disappoint Reeve's many fans. Fever Crumb returns to London, but the place where she grew up is now unrecognizable. It has been transformed into a city on wheels, thanks in part to Wavey, Fever's mother and London's Chief Engineer. The nomad tribes of the North are threatened by this new moving city and plan to attack. Meanwhile, Wavey hears of a black pyramid in the North Country that might contain useful information about the past. The mother and daughter are inevitably drawn toward the structure, but, on their journey, tragedy strikes, leaving Fever to make some tough decisions and choose alliances she never thought possible. She also meets Cluny Morvish, a member of one of the nomadic warrior tribes and travels with her. Fever's friendship with Cluny changes her perspective on many things, including raising questions about her own sexual identity, which Reeve handles delicately. Beautifully complex language and a fully realized, highly creative future world will draw in readers, although those unfamiliar with the previous books will struggle with characters and concepts. Fever's journey concludes with satisfying answers to long-standing questions about the basis for her society and her own heritage. For die-hard fans of science fiction, it doesn't get much better.—Mandy Laferriere, Staley Middle School, Frisco, TX