The Young World

Gr 9 Up—A postapocalyptic novel told from the point of view of three teens in New York City who have banded together after a mysterious sickness wipes out the entire population of children and adults. The survivors are faced not only with the breakdown of society but also certain death when their hormonal levels even out. When food dwindles in the neighborhood where their tribe has hunkered down, they decide to risk a trip to the main branch of the New York Public Library to find a scientific study that may explain the origins of the sickness. On their quest, they encounter a group of fanatical cannibals, a misogynistic gang of entrepreneurs, mole people living in the subway system, and a very organized group creating weapons from 3-D printers. In the course of their journey lives are lost, bravery tested, and childhood relationships become something more. What they eventually find is a research island where secret experiments are being fiercely guarded, but the brainiac of the group is able to trick their captors into letting him try to find a cure. A giant cliff-hanger at the end ensures that a sequel will soon follow. While the plot employs some very predictable story lines the characters are interesting, the action moves quickly, and the context of a broken NYC is so compelling that readers will find it hard to put this book down. Chapters written from alternating perspectives offer the chance to see how the same situations are interpreted by either the boy next door, the sweet girl with the tough exterior, or the intellectual with traits common to people with Asperger's. At times the dialogue inexplicably changes from that of a regular book to a movie script, which can be jarring. However, readers will likely breeze by this minor distraction while they're frantically flipping pages to find out what happens next.—Sunnie Lovelace, Wallingford Public Library, CT