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July 1, 2018

Gr 8 Up-In this sequel to the dystopian All Rights Reserved, Speth, the Silent Girl, has blown up her dome's WiFi. She knows it's only a matter of time before the power is restored, speech is once again restricted, and she and her companions are captured and sold. Speth just wants her sister Seratha's shattered leg to be repaired and to find their parents, who are being held as indentured servants. She and fellow Product Placers Henri, Margot, and Kel escape the dome-although Seratha's left behind. They steal a car and drive Fast and Furious-style through the tunnels that connect the inhabited domes with the evil Lucretia Rog and her brutish henchmen in close pursuit. Their dangerous trek takes Speth and her comrades all the way to the U.S.-Mexico border (now called Tejico). Along the way, Speth's ninja skills are needed as she and the others are captured, escape, endure loss, find unexpected allies, and uncover family secrets. This long but eventful novel, equally action-packed and introspective, has some engaging plot twists that will keep readers going. It's a telling look at issues of free speech, repressive regimes, economic inequality, and countries' border relations. VERDICT A definite must for fans of the previous volume and a much-needed reminder that words really do matter.-Sharon Rawlins, New Jersey State Library, Trenton

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 15, 2018
A reluctant heroine returns to fight the deeply entrenched corruption and greed of a futuristic society in which proprietary rights have trumped those of its individual citizens in this sequel to All Rights Reserved (2017).Speth Jime struggles to find her footing after toppling the Wi-Fi network in her home of Portland, Vermaine. While she's disabled the system that charges people for each word they speak, she's also plunged the city into chaos. Car chases and zip lining across cityscapes are interspersed with weightier passages in which Speth and her diverse group of friends travel across the country, incrementally learning more about the history of the dystopian United States in which they live. This juxtaposition, while sometimes feeling a bit obvious, propels the story forward, and Speth's standoffs with creepily evil, archetypical villain Lucretia Rog establish her as a vulnerable but tough narrator. Careful and cautionary worldbuilding includes factory farms where indentured workers' children are born as property of the corporation and a militarized border between the U.S. and the country Téjico (formerly Mexico), including a huge concrete wall to keep immigrants out of the U.S. Speth's Mexican heritage, alluded to in the first novel, is more visible in this one, with social commentary including the insidious ways people of color have been marginalized and exploited.A powerful novel with a neatly wrapped-up conclusion. (Science fiction. 13-18)

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June 1, 2018
Grades 7-10 Smart, tenacious Speth Jime's fast-paced adventure continues in the sequel to Katsoulis' prescient novel about freedom of speech (All Rights Reserved, 2017). This begins right where the action of the previous book left off, and doesn't lose steam from there. The scope and stakes of this book skyrocket, as Speth and her found family of infinitely resourceful friends break out of the enclosed dome where they've lived their entire lives and venture into the unknown. Where the first book explored Speth's internal struggle with her silent protest, this book explodes outward and interrogates issues of cultural identity and refugees. Ultimately, Katsoulis tries to balance a rich, descriptive dystopia with his interest in wordplay and examination of language itself. The book is largely successful in this endeavor, as Speth's world is fleshed out considerably and characters explore intriguing nuances in language copyright law ( The Second Act of Connotation ). Speth's journey comes to a satisfying close, though there is much potential for additional novels set in her world.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)