Across the Universe

A shipload of colonists is crossing the void from Earth to Alpha Centauri. It's a 300-year trip, and 17-year-old Amy, one of the 100 frozen passengers, is awakened long before their scheduled arrival. Lauren Ambrose imbues Amy with all the passion of a headstrong, independent leader who faces down incredible challenges as she adjusts to a new world full of strange people and values. Ambrose's pacing and timing are outstanding. Carlos Santos is less exciting in his portrayal of the only other teen on the ship, the expedition's next leader. But he's a child of the controlled culture of the ship, so Santos's understated performance works. The narrative has heroine and hero alternating chapters, a story structure that works well. M.C. (c) AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine

November 22, 2010
This competent and gripping first novel recycles one of science fiction's oldest motifs: the starship sent to colonize a new world but gone badly astray. Amy, the teenage daughter of two of the colony's future leaders, was a passenger, and was supposed to stay in cryogenic suspension for 300 years until the Godspeed neared its target world of Centauri-Earth, but she is awakened 50 years early—in what looks to be the first in a string of attempted murders of the frozen colonists. There has been a plague among the crew who, generation after generation, were supposed to keep the ship running, and much essential information has been lost. The starship is now ruled by Eldest, a tyrannical old man assisted by teenage Elder, who will eventually replace him. Neither knows why Amy was awakened, but in the monoethnic and heavily sedated society of Godspeed, she represents difference—something Eldest will not tolerate, but which captivates Elder. Revis's tale hits all of the standard dystopian notes, while presenting a believable romance and a series of tantalizing mysteries that will hold readers' attention. Ages 12–up.