The Warehouse by Rob Hart

THE WAREHOUSE by Rob Hart is a new work of dystopian science fiction which is a LibraryReads selection for August. Set in the near future at a MotherCloud facility where employees live, eat, play and work for credits, there is some corporate espionage underway. Zinnia has been secretly recruited to find the source of the complex’s power and Paxton is a prison security guard and inventor whom she meets on the first day. Much of their orientation is delivered through videos and everyone wears a shirt that reflects their job – red for pickers (order processors), blue for security, green for maintenance, white for managers and so forth.  Work shifts and timing are all controlled centrally – communicated through smart watches called CloudBands which are activated with a fingerprint and track their wearer’s movements, making Zinnia’s task very challenging. Despite the opportunities - cool air, fresh water, a job and place to live - available through Cloud, the atmosphere is menacing; an associate of Paxton’s remarks, “you’ll see there’s the Cloud way of doing things and the right way of doing things. Sometimes those are the same, sometimes they aren’t.” Gibson Wells is the industrialist who heads the company, the monopolist who has overtaken tons of small businesses (including Paxton’s), and corporate lobbyist who has helped push through legislation like the Red Tape Elimination Act and FAA takeover. As Hart indicates in his acknowledgements, this is a thriller with a message about opportunity and about income inequality, essentially an attempt, he hopes, that “nudges us in the right [future] direction.” THE WAREHOUSE received starred reviews from Kirkus and Publishers Weekly. Watch also for the forthcoming movie from Ron Howard and Imagine Entertainment.

How We Became Wicked by Alexander Yates

HOW WE BECAME WICKED by Alexander Yates is exciting and suspense-filled. Set in the future, this dystopian science-fiction story is told primarily through the eyes of three teens: Astrid and Hank who live in Goldsport and Natalie who lives on Puffin Island. Their surroundings have been totally transformed by the spread of a plague called Wickedness – human victims become infected through the sting of mosquito like singers or by touching another infected human. A very few people, like Astrid and Natalie, are “vexed” or immune to the disease. Those who are still “true,” including Hank and the residents of Goldsport, must live in self-contained communities and take precautions such as wearing special suits if they venture out.  Of course, a substantial part of this novel is devoted to world building and character development, but that adds to its richness and to some very surprising twists. Be aware that there are a few horrific scenes and strong emotions in this novel. Along the way, though, readers will be asking themselves about the nature of right and wrong and who truly is wicked (e.g., the imprisoned grandfather or his family/captors?) and why. 

HOW WE BECAME WICKED received starred reviews from Booklist and Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books and it could be an engaging independent read for students taking our Good and Evil English elective. This novel will be particularly enjoyable for any readers who like science fiction and survival stories – once started, it is hard to put down.  

Added: If this all sounds a little too far-fetched, see "The Mosquitoes Are Coming for Us" which coincidentally just appeared in The New York Times.  

Dry by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman

DRY by Neal Shusterman and Jarrod Shusterman is all about the Tap-Out, the result of a major drought in Southern California which has been going on for a while. What makes this novel so vivid and relevant is the absolutely remarkable way that the Shustermans use multiple narrators to relate the events after Arizona and Nevada decide to shut the floodgates on any water supplies to California: “[Mom’s] watching the TV, where a news anchor is blathering about the “flow crisis.” That’s what the media’s been calling the drought, ever since people got tired of hearing the word ‘drought.’ Kind of like the way ‘global warming’ became ‘climate change’ and ‘war’ became ‘conflict.’”

Are you thirsty yet? You will be when reading this dystopian survival story which centers on Alyssa and Garrett, a sister and brother whose parents leave to look for water and don’t return. The siblings team up with Kelton (his Dad is an ex-Marine survivalist) and Jacqui who says, “I’m disappointed by people – how weak they are, how frail their psyches must be to allow a water shortage to turn them into murderous mobs.”  A “compulsively readable and unnerving tale” per the Horn Book review, DRY received starred reviews from Booklist, Kirkus, Publishers Weekly and School Library Journal.