After Eden

October 7, 2013
Douglas’s debut, published earlier this year in the U.K., is a low-key teen love triangle spiked by the complication of time travel. Eden and Connor have been friends since preschool; Ryan is the new kid who shows up for 11th grade in their English seaside town. They’re handsome, intelligent kids with death and loss in their histories, but no serious hangups. Ryan whispers to Eden that Connor loves her, even as Ryan is putting the moves on her. Eden dismisses Connor for the lure of the new, but Ryan’s patchy grasp of common knowledge—what is pizza? who’s Nelson Mandela?—raises suspicion. It takes a hundred pages to discover why: Ryan is from the future, and he’s arrived to change his history. Douglas’s world-building can be strange. In 100 years, students will apparently recite Shakespeare from memory but not recognize Hitler’s name; indeed, though the locus of disaster lies with a boy born in the 20th century, that century is barely discussed in future classrooms. Otherwise, the plot is competently constructed and the prose enjoyable—a respectable debut. Ages 12–up. Agent: Julia Churchill, A.M. Heath.

October 1, 2013
In this romance-laced science-fiction thriller, Eden must navigate a thorny love triangle. Eden's distress at her best friend Connor's romantic overtures increases as her relationship with mysterious Ryan blooms. His disclosure that Eden must prevent Connor's discovery of a new planet in order to save Earth's future jeopardizes her relationships and her safety. Readers, like Eden, quickly understand that Ryan's confusion about ordinary objects like pizza and his unfamiliarity with historical figures like Hitler and Gandhi suggest that he may not be an average teen. However, as the novel initially focuses on Eden's very normal high school experiences, her discovery that Ryan has traveled from the future is quite jarring. Still, the introduction of this new twist and plotline keeps the novel from becoming just another trite high school love triangle. Though Eden and Ryan's relationship is not terribly interesting, the tragedy of their 110-year age difference combines with Ryan's inevitable return to the future to appeal to many paranormal-romance fans. The plot unfolds fairly predictably, but the novel does offer plenty of unexpected twists and an increased pace when the future world ruthlessly begins seeking Eden's elimination. Readers who persevere through the long exposition will find their patience rewarded by a series of exciting revelations that ignite the action in the last third of the novel. (Science fiction. 12-18)

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December 1, 2013

Gr 8 Up-Tall, good-looking Ryan Westland, 17, shows up at Perran School in England in March 2012 and attracts the attention of the female population. However, Eden Anfield, 16, discovers that there is far more to the new guy than his muscular physique when she finds a book in his possession that has been written by her best friend, Connor Penrose, and published in 2081. Ryan has traveled from the future and is on a mission to save the world from Connor's future discovery of a new planet that will later prove deadly to life on Earth. What begins as an unremarkable teen romance becomes a sci-fi novel interwoven with tidbits of information about stars, planets, and even quantum physics. The romance makes for a compelling read but undermines the deeper scientific story that could have propelled this novel beyond a sappy, mediocre love triangle. The ending is almost tritely predictable and further emphasizes the resounding message that the heart rules over the head above all odds. While the heroes prove admirably courageous at the story's end by creating their own destiny, the most pivotal character in the book, Connor, is all but completely forgotten. Still, hard-core love story enthusiasts may fall for the romantic notion of time travel for the sake of passion at all costs, however far-fetched that might seem.-Etta Anton, Yeshiva of Central Queens, NY

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