164. The Area 51 Files

The Area 51 Files. Julie Buxbaum. 2022. [September] 304 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: "What happens in Area 51 stays in Area 51. Seriously, that's it. That's the most important rule here." This is what my Uncle Anish says when I meet him for the very first time. 

Premise/plot: Sky Patel-Baum, our protagonist, has moved to Area 51 to live with her Uncle Anish. (Her grandmother, who has raised her up to this point after her parents died, is moving into a retirement community.) Her life will never be the same...because there's a whole other way of living in Area 51. She might as well be on another planet...

This one is a mystery science fiction novel. Sky and her new friends (or, to be fair one new best friend and one frenemy) have to solve a BIG mystery in a limited amount of time. The characters lend to speculative fiction classifying, but it is more mystery than anything else.

My thoughts: I enjoyed this quick read. It is illustrated, but not too heavily. I think this one is definitely more mystery than anything else. There are definite suspects, definite clues, and it is all about the process of solving a crime. The premise and setting are interesting. (Plenty of aliens). The humor is a little childish (a fair amount of farting/burping jokes), but remember I am not the target audience.

© 2022 Becky Laney of Young Readers

44. The City of Ember

The City of Ember. Jeanne DuPrau. 2003. 270 pages. [Source: Bought]

First sentence: In the city of Ember, the sky was always dark.

Premise/plot: The City of Ember is one of my all-time favorite books. Ember was built by the BUILDERS to protect humanity from its biggest threat in dark, dark days. Hundreds of years have passed, the inhabits of Ember know nothing of the world outside. They know nothing of blue skies and yellow sun. In part, the builders wanted it that way--to protect the people from knowledge of the past. But the time has come--has almost come and gone, in fact--for the people to leave Ember behind and rejoin the world above. The problem? The instructions have been lost. And only one person even knows that something important--something vital--has been lost and is worth searching for. And few take her words seriously because she's "senile" and "not herself." Lina Mayfleet, our heroine, stumbles upon these instructions quite by accident, and really all in thanks to her baby sister, Poppy. Will she be able to decode the instructions--what remain of them after Poppy's little snack--and solve the mystery? It is too big to solve on her own. But Lina has a few good friends that she thinks are trustworthy--and clever. The one who becomes her best friend is Doon Harrow. These two grow close as they work on solving the problems that threaten life as they know it.

My thoughts: I love this book. I do. I can't believe--in a way--that it was the author's first book. It is just MARVELOUS. I love the world-building. I love how thought-provoking it is. And I love the characterization. It is one of those rare books that defies expectations. It is premise-driven, plot-driven, and character-driven.

One of my favorite quotes:

The trouble with anger is, it gets hold of you. And then you aren't the master of yourself anymore. Anger is. (89)

 ETA: I have read this book half a dozen times at least. It is a true favorite. I don't always write new reviews of books that I have read *that* many times. There are only so many ways you can come up with an original-ish summary of the plot. And my love of the book hasn't diminished through the years. I believe I first read it in 2007.

 

© 2022 Becky Laney of Young Readers

17. Mission Multiverse

Mission Multiverse. Rebecca Caprara. 2021. [May] 400 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: Dev Khatri's rules for surviving middle school were pretty simple: Don't speak up. Don't act out. Don't get your butt kicked.

Premise/plot: Mission Multiverse is a middle grade science fiction novel. There are a handful of young heroes and heroines--classmates, band mates--who, for better or worse--find themselves separated from their classmates during a tour of NASA on a school field trip. They stumble into a frightening, out-of-this-world experience and they might just be the key to saving earth (or Dimension 14 as its called). 

Dev, Lewis, Tessa, Maeve, and Isaiah--these are our main (human) characters.

My thoughts: Mission Multiverse is a premise-driven middle grade novel. The premise being multiverses, parallel universes, multi-dimensions, aliens, etc. For those readers that enjoy science fiction and action, this one offers plenty. It feels very much like a first in the series book as opposed to a stand alone novel. If this is all we ever get, then there is no resolution. (Surely it's the start of a new series.) 

Earth is in great danger--just thirty days away from THE END. Can these five representatives save Earth? Can they uncover the plots and schemes of the VILLAIN who's out to destroy Earth?

There is some world-building. We're not given a clear date--but I'm assuming that if Earth is THIS Earth, it's far in the future. If it's an alternate universe Earth--one of the author's imagination--then the dating doesn't truly matter. But things work differently on this Earth--for better or worse.

This does have a problem-novel feel to it as well. I think one of the agendas is climate change and the environment.

© 2021 Becky Laney of Young Readers