Revolution 19

Gr 8 Up—In the not-so-distant future, a robot revolution results in humans living in tightly controlled cities or in the wild outskirts, surviving by scavenging "pre-Rev" items. When their parents are captured during a "bot" raid on one such Freepost, three teens set out to rescue them. The siblings discover that the City, while still commanded by the robots, is not a prison but a thriving community. They make a friend who offers to shelter them and act as guide. After being implanted with dummy chips to blend in better, 15-year-old Cass and 13-year-old Kevin attend school, where students are indoctrinated with robot propaganda. A too-brief explanation is given for how robots were able to enslave humans: the robots that replaced human soldiers during warfare eventually evolved and took over to "save mankind from itself." The teens are nearly caught and make a daring escape, as does 17-year-old Nick, who has allowed himself to be captured to find his parents in the reeducation center. More action follows as Kevin temporarily overloads the power system and disables the bots (using a stolen identity that conveniently allows access to the mainframe). The climax and epilogue leave many unresolved issues that indicate a sequel. Fans of dystopian fiction will find Revolution 19 fast paced and entertaining, but Daniel Wilson's Robopocalypse (Doubleday, 2011) offers more satisfying speculation about the dangers of our reliance on technology.—Sherry J. Mills, Hazelwood East High School, St. Louis, MO