Climate of Chaos

Gr 9 Up–This postapocalyptic adventure in a future Seattle finds sisters Fox and Rabbit waiting in line for Zone 3’s hospital. Their mission: secure medicine for Still Alive, their camp far from the domes. Fox, who uses a cane following a childhood injury, is nervous on her first mission, but keeps calm even though a storm is brewing. People in front of them start making trouble, and Storm Troopers step in to take the rowdy ones to Harvest House (no one ever leaves). This mission will decide if Fox becomes a Merc for her camp, so she repeats Still Alive’s motto: “Community over ego, sacrifice to succeed.” At the hospital, Rabbit and Fox are separated, and while Fox succeeds in her mission, Rabbit doesn’t make it back to camp. Still Alive isn’t sure if Rabbit will be rescued and Fox must decide: family, community, or survival? Newbould keeps readers guessing in this well-written future with storms, viruses, and people in safety—and others with none. She builds her world and settings quickly, capturing readers in her dystopian society in the first chapter. A big brother government reminiscent of George Orwell and an outside society built as well as William Golding’s have ensured Newbould a name in the sci-fi/dystopian space. Her dialogue, action and plotting hold true to the very end—leaving readers awaiting a second book. Fans of James Dashner’s The Maze Runner and Lex Thomas’s “Quarantine” series will enjoy this adventure. There is diversity in the cast.