The Lives We Lost

January 15, 2013
The disease from The Way We Fall (2012) has reached the mainland, but so has Kaelyn, carrying a potential vaccine. Kaelyn finally accesses her dead father's laboratory and finds that he created an untested vaccine for the deadly flu before he was murdered. With the island no longer under quarantine, Kaelyn knows she must get the notes and samples to mainland scientists who can recreate it, if humanity is to have any hope of survival. But the mainland is more devastated than she imagined. The novel's title can refer both to the mass deaths and, more poignantly, to the pre-flu world Kaelyn mourns--the desire to return civilization to what was lost pushes her ever forward and strengthens her resolve. Since Kaelyn is immune, the virus is less of a threat than other people; a highly organized band of survivors wishes to get the vaccine for themselves. But Kaelyn spends more time worrying about the state of her friendship with Leo than considering them. Although the prose is no longer a diary, it's still related in the first-person--sometimes a bit too unevenly, as side characters get lost in the background although they are ostensibly present and active. The ending sets up the next book instead of offering any resolution. Kaelyn's grim determination and character growth offer readers a reprieve from bleakness, leaving them ready for the next installment. (Science fiction. 12 & up)

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June 1, 2013

Gr 7 Up-Except for her younger cousin, 17-year-old Kaelyn's family is gone. When her best friend, Leo, arrives to tell her that the quarantine of their tiny island off the south coast of Nova Scotia didn't work and that the virus has become a global pandemic, it seems as if all hope is lost. Then Kaelyn discovers that her father developed a vaccine; she's determined to get it into the hands of someone who can replicate it and save the world. She and her friends begin a long winter trek toward Ottawa and hope. But hope is hard to find in this new world ravaged by disease, and their journey soon becomes a struggle for survival. The first chapter of this sequel is a continuation of Kaelyn's journal that made up the content of The Way We Fall (Hyperion, 2012), but the rest of the story unfolds in a straightforward, first-person narrative. The storytelling is choppily episodic as Kaelyn and her friends encounter those who have risen to power as well as people who are willing to help them. The characters are distinct, and many of them experience nuanced soul-wrestling as the story unfolds. The author has made some convenient choices in order to direct the plot, but on the whole this is a readable tale about courage and heroism in the face of a world that is falling apart.-Heather M. Campbell, formerly at Philip S. Miller Library, Castle Rock, CO

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