The Undercurrent

Gr 9 Up—Set in futuristic Australia where a corporation called Paxton Federation incentivizes farmers to grow genetically modified food and animals because traditional farming methods have left people starving. The main character, 18-year-old Jules, has an electrical current running under her skin that she can't control. She is the daughter of Mike Di Marchi, a now-deceased war veteran, and Angie DiMarchi, who had been the leader of a left-wing political group called the Agitators, which she left after being blackmailed and denied work. Additionally, Pax Fed is involved in experimental programs involving the country's soldiers, and Angie believes that the military administered vaccines to Mike, which changed his DNA and caused Jules to have the current. When Jules interviews for a job at Pax Fed out of desperation, she's rescued from mercenaries in the building by a soldier named Ryan, whose motivations are unclear at first. Weston's novel is packed with action, and the romantic chemistry between Jules and Ryan serves as a subplot. Ryan's father's struggle with alcoholism is addressed, as well as Ryan's professional football career which never came to fruition after a knee injury. The internal and external conflicts that each character faces feel realistic; they enhance the plot and maintain the pace of this long novel. The conclusion leaves some threads unresolved but brings character-driven arcs to a satisfactory close.