Enders

November 15, 2013
Teenagers with microchips that enable people to borrow their bodies evade those who would use them. Using an inheritance from Helena, the elderly woman who rented Callie's body in Starters (2012), Callie's carved out a life and safety for herself, her younger brother and her best friend, Michael. Then the first book's main villain, the Old Man, reaches out to her to demonstrate the deadly danger the chips pose if the chip-implanted teenagers, Metals, don't obey him. He commands Callie to meet him, but she's intercepted and rescued by a boy claiming to be the Old Man's son. Genius Hyden, who helped develop the chips, explains how to block the signals his father uses to track and control Metals. The developing romance stays in the background, as Callie and Hyden set about keeping the Metals from his father in the slow first half. Predictably, there is a raid, and all except Callie, Hyden and Michael are conveniently captured, launching an action-oriented rescue storyline and a series of plot twists. Some glossed-over twists stretch believability, though the threat (and villain's secret plan), smaller-scale than in Starters, is personal in a creepy way. Metals can be controlled remotely, and Callie's modified chip keeps her awake and aware, leading to a delightfully disturbing climax. It's not as intense as Starters, but it offers some answers and a solid conclusion that will repay readers. (Science fiction. 12-18)

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March 1, 2014

Gr 7 Up-Callie successfully brought down Prime Destinations, but that wasn't the end. While she and her family are at the mall, another Starter with a chip in her head has her body hijacked and is turned into a living bomb-all while the Old Man addresses Callie directly through her mind. The protagonist is determined to take him down once and for all and to regain control of her mind and body for good. Price's writing is functional at best and cliched at worst, too frequently leaning on crutches (like emotion flashing in a character's eyes), but the point here is the story, not its telling. While the first half of Enders drags, especially after the pervasive tension in Starters (Delacorte, 2012), things pick up once Callie is kidnapped by Hyden, the Old Man's son, who opposes his father's work. Her attraction to Hyden feels forced and tacked-on. In the end, all questions are answered and all conflicts resolved (some rather quickly and a little too perfectly), and the book's hopeful ending points toward society's eventual recovery from the effects of the Spore Wars and the generational conflict it caused. Recommended strictly for hard-core fans of the first book who can overlook this sequel's flaws.-Gretchen Kolderup, New York Public Library

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 1, 2013
Grades 7-10 Bringing to conclusion the story arc begun in Starters (2012), Price's first take on a postplague Los Angeles, this is pure, adrenaline-fueled plot. Hopefully, you know the setup: a society where bioengineering-enabled older people inhabit the bodies of teens, thus giving them a chance to revisit youth. While Callie, a teen Metal with a chip in her head, helped bring down the evil Prime Destinations company, the mastermind, the Old Man, got away. Now, despite the loss of his facility, he is still able to access Callie's head. A number of tricky twists lead Callie to believe her father may have survived the plague that took down his generation, and might know something useful about the technology. And what's that? An inappropriate love interest in the form of the Old Man's son. Callie best heed the Old Man's advice: Trust no one but yourself . . . and then question that. Fans of Starters will gobble this up, and while the ending is conclusive, there remains room to imagine Callie and her fellow Metals in new adventures.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)