Cyberia

September 8, 2008
Setting this adventure in the future, Lynch (Inexcusable
) plays on themes dear to middle-schoolers: the bond between children and animals, the mistrust of authority, the double edge of technology that offers shortcuts but erodes independence. Zane, the narrator, lives surrounded by monitors, and he wears an anklet at all times: “ connected into the very me with a wire that goes right under my skin and on into the who knows what depths of me.” So he feels sympathetic when his dog, Hugo, returns from the vet implanted with a chip that lets people “read heart and mind,” and then engineers a trip to the WildArea, the one place where nature is still allowed to take its course. Convinced by Hugo, Zane sets about trying to free the animals in thrall to the vet. The action doesn't let up long enough for readers to start questioning some plot holes; perhaps these will be closed in a planned sequel. Ages 9–12.

November 1, 2008
Gr 4-6-Zane lives in a future in which everything is networked and microchipped. His bedroom talks to him, reads his temperature, and informs him when he will next need to go to the bathroom. His parents are wired, tooboth are network broadcasters with studios at homealthough Zane never sees them unless he makes an appointment. His best pal is his dog, Hugo, who wears a microchip installed by the family vet that allows him to talk when Zane wears a special earphone. But Hugo tells Zane things he isn't supposed to knowfor example, that Dr. Gristle has been performing twisted techno-experiments on an entire lab full of animals, and that the boy is the only one who can rescue them. Techno-savvy kids will chuckle at this goofily satirical look at how adults use technology to keep their children "safe," and how that technology can also turn around andliterallybite them."Walter Minkel, Austin Public Library, TX"

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