by Jan Pease
The golden age of young adult novels continues with four
new books on my desk this week. I don’t
know why this is a trend, but they each have one-word titles.
I’ve been waiting for Sunrise, by Mike Mullin, for about a year. This novel is the final
book in the “Ashfall” trilogy. This
trilogy follows the fate of a young man who walks through the landscape of
volcanic winter after the Yellowstone Caldera explodes. Since there really is a possibility of the
Caldera blowing, this book has a sense of reality most dystopian novels don’t
share. Most of the humans and animals in
the Midwest die. The remaining people
either work together to survive, or degenerate into horrible outlaw gangs. The novels are violent and graphic, so I
recommend them for older readers.
Panic, by Lauren Oliver, reminds
me of a few events I experienced some 43 years ago, although I never was in as
much danger, or trouble, as the teenagers in Lauren Oliver’s town of Carp. “Panic” is a series of challenges that
teenagers can participate in just after graduation from high school. Sometimes
people have died playing Panic. The
final event is a game of chicken, with cars running at high speeds and the
potential for disaster.
Author Chris Wooding has a new book, Silver, which starts like a typical
British boarding school novel but, according to Booklist, “Wooding has morphed a traditional English boarding school
story—bullies, evil headmaster, well-intentioned teacher, and boy/girl
drama—into a horror/survival story that would make William Golding and Gary
Paulsen envious.” Wow. Lord of
the Flies meets Hatchet? The students find themselves fighting for
survival with a biological weapon experiment that has somehow gone wrong.
“Conspiracy
365” was a riveting series that flew off our shelves. Readers had to wait each month for the next
book to be released. 
The same publisher, Kane Miller, began a new series this year, “The Last Thirteen,” written by James Phalen. Counting down from thirteen, this series explores the story of Sam, who is one of the last thirteen Dreamers. This information is quoted from the Kane Miller website: “Caught in a covert battle to preserve life as we know it, he must follow the clues to find twelve more Dreamers. Only this unique group can unravel the mysteries of an ancient prophecy and locate the long-lost key to Earth’s survival.” The newest book is 9, and the countdown continues.
If there is a
trend in these books, it might be that authors are moving away from the
paranormal and toward more action and suspense.
9, which is the most
supernatural of the four books, is still
action-packed. Of course, more action
can mean more violence. The Ashfall Trilogy can be exceptionally gruesome. At least there are no vampires, werewolves,
or zombies. See you at the library!
