The Last Lie

May 15, 2020
Wordsmith Letta fights for the future right of people to employ language to tell their own truth. Forde continues the post-apocalyptic adventure begun in The List (2017) with a look at the way that struggles for what is right and who wields power collide in a new world order. Now, long after the world-changing global warming event remembered as the Melting, young Letta, wordsmith of the survivors in her part of the world, is caught up in the resistance against the established order of the surviving organized city, Ark. Amelia, the current leader of Ark, regards language as something to be controlled and used only by those in power. To that end, she has removed dozens of babies from their families and created a nursery where they will be raised without language. This dark experiment with raising feral children seems to offer homage to The Giver, Ursula K. Le Guin's Omelas, and other worlds where safety and security are guaranteed at the price of something intrinsically human. As intriguingly ambitious as Forde's idea is, it suffers somewhat in the extensive telling of Lette's story of danger and flight, where often the peril results from Lette's impulsive, believable adolescent impetuousness. Fortunately she is several times saved by Marlo, the friend she hopes will return her affection. A default white is presumed; markers of color, class, and language aren't given. A compelling speculative premise helmed by a realistic female protagonist. (Science fiction. 11-14)

COPYRIGHT(2020) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

July 1, 2020

Gr 5 Up-This post-apocalyptic thriller picks up where The List leaves off, returning readers to the Ark, a community whose authoritarian leadership has restricted speech to a list of 500 approved words in a misguided attempt to prevent the "lies and false promises" that had led to The Melting, a climate-change induced collapse of civilization. Although protagonist Letta killed John Noa, the Ark's founder and leader, in the previous volume-background that is seamlessly incorporated for readers new to this duology-little has changed, as John's partner (and Letta's aunt) Amelia has now taken over the Ark and is even more draconian. Through a chain of events that requires a fair amount of suspension of disbelief, Letta determines that Amelia has imprisoned 50 babies and is raising them without any exposure to speech whatsoever, hoping to ultimately do away with all language. Together with romantic interest and fellow rebel Marlo, Letta takes the lead in opposing Amelia's plot. With its adherence to standard dystopian tropes, this work is not exactly groundbreaking. However, this plot-driven page turner does trip along at a compelling pace, while also raising a number of interesting questions about the role of language in society, the costs of censorship, and the importance of considering the means, not just the end, when overthrowing tyranny. VERDICT A priority purchase where Forde's The List is popular.-Eileen Makoff, P.S. 90 Edna Cohen Sch., NY

Copyright 2020 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.