Dealing in Dreams

Gr 7 Up-Nalah, "Chief Rocka," heads a battle-ready crew of teenage girls known as Las Mal Criadas, brawling with other gangs to prove their dominance, patrolling the streets of Mega City, and enforcing the curfew established by Déesse, the city's ruler. Déesse's female dominated society is strictly stratified; young men are relegated to dancing in "boydegas" as entertainment for the girl crews, while most residents are "toilers," producing food pellets and "sueños" tablets, doled out to keep the populace compliant and on the precipice of addiction. Nalah is determined to leave the streets behind and join Déesse's inner circle, which means moving into a high-rise tower with Mega City's elite, who indulge in nightly parties and luxurious furnishings. When Déesse recruits Las Mal Criadas to scope out an infiltrating group outside of Mega City, the protagonist imagines their opportunity has finally arrived, but dangers and surprises abound beyond the city walls, testing Nalah's trust in her crew and their confidence in her. There is plenty of gritty action to propel readers through the plot, but it is Chief Rocka's internal struggles and vulnerabilities that are the most compelling and memorable. Rivera effectively presents the complexity of female relationships, which will resonate strongly with readers. Most notably, Rivera posits whether a society can really thrive when any one group dominates another, especially through violence and deception. VERDICT A novel exploration of societal roles, gender, and equality through the eyes of captivating lead. Recommended for all young adult collections.-Jessica Agudelo, New York Public Library

January 1, 2019
Rivera (The Education of Margot Sanchez, 2017) crafts a feminist, futurist Latinx dystopia.Mega City appears to be the only urban center left standing after a massive earthquake known colloquially as the Big Shake, a place where ideals of a feminist eutopia have devolved into gang violence, economic inequality, rampant drug addiction, and callous objectification of men. In this world of toxic femininity, Nalah, better known as Chief Rocka, leads a group of teen girls in patrolling the streets and pursuing an elusive dream of residing among the elite. When an assignment from on high sends Nalah and crew beyond the borders, she is exposed to new ideas and long-buried memories which threaten the foundations of her life. While addressing many hot-button issues, gender identity and expression lie at the heart of the drama. The pacing comes in fits and starts. Bursts of staccato action, frequently violent, are contrasted with languid interludes of pensive, often redundant, introspection. After spending much of the book blindly loyal to Mega City, the protagonist's inevitable change of heart comes with a rapidity once reserved only for the Grinch. Perhaps unsurprisingly, this leaves many loose ends, ample hanging threads ripe for a sequel. Though characters' ethnicities are never identified, the world they live in, which creatively flips the hallmarks of machismo on their head, is steeped in Latinx-Caribbean culture.Intriguing premise but the verdict is still out. (Science fiction. 12-17)

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Starred review from December 1, 2018
Grades 10-1 *Starred Review* Las Mal Criadas, one of the most feared gangs to patrol the streets of Mega City, is judge, jury, and executioner for D�esse, the revolutionary who relegated men to slave labor and opened the way for women to rule society. For Chief Rocka, leader of Las Mal Criadas, D�esse is an inspiration and a mother figure. When D�esse asks Las Mal Criadas to throw the tournament that would win them positions as D�esse's right-hand women?and homes in the city's paradisiac Mega Towers?Rocka obliges. This is a cover, however, for a more urgent mission that will take Las Mal Criadas far outside the city limits. Rocka soon learns that this mission will test her loyalty to everything she holds dear?her crew, her city, and the family she thought was dead. Taking cues from Judge Dredd, Mad Max, and The Hunger Games, Rivera (The Education of Margot Sanchez, 2017) has created a uniquely brutal hellscape where inhabitants are addicted to a drug called sue�o, enslaved, or part of an enforcer class. The characters are allowed to fully embody the violent ideals of Mega City without artificial moralizing?the blurred line between hero and villain verges on nonexistent. Instead, readers are left with a more ambiguous?and ambitious?tale that will have them questioning what kinds of people they'd be if freed from society's mores.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)