The Farm

November 15, 2012
After six months on a Farm where teens are raised to feed the vampire-mutant Ticks, Lily has a plan to escape with her autistic twin sister, Mel. Unbeknownst to Lily, her plan is doomed. Luckily, Carter, a boy she knew in the Before, shows up in the nick of time to tell her what to do instead. The story is narrated in three voices. Lily's voice gets the lion's share. Mel's voice--less the voice of a genuine autistic person and more florid riddle-talk--narrates a few short snippets. In Carter's chapters, which are, disconcertingly, written in third person, readers hear that Lily has the special thought-controlling powers of an abductura, though the nature of those powers and the dubious sources of Carter's information take a long time to be revealed. At every turn, Lily is punished for being self-reliant: Not only do readers learn her escape plot would have failed, but the actions she takes in self-defense, such as breaking one of Carter's tranquilizer darts after he has shot her with another, consistently backfire. A few tense action scenes and some by-the-book romantic tension aren't enough to outweigh the book's distasteful message: Do as you're told, girls, and leave the planning and fighting to the boys. Nothing new here. (Science fiction. 12-16)

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January 1, 2013

Gr 8 Up-For their own protection, 17-year-old Lily and her autistic twin sister, Mel, are herded onto the Farm. A now-defunct college campus, it is a holding pen for countless teens. Hovering on the other side of the electric barbwire fence are human-size mutations: bloodthirsty Ticks, a scientific experiment gone awry. The Dean of the Farm systematically sacrifices hormonally ripe teens to feed and ward them off. Some females turn into breeders because their hormonal change repels the Ticks. Lily, fierce protector of Mel, plots their escape from this creepy place. Complicating her plan is Carter, the too-cool guy from the Before who vigilantly comes to their rescue. Mel is strangely compliant and responsive to Carter and his accomplice, a drop-dead gorgeous vampire, Sebastian. Unknown to Lily, her rescuers suspect that she has paranormal powers. Carter hopes that she can save the world, Sebastian wants to wipe out the competition, and the Dean wants to use Lily's powers for his own devices. Carter, Sebastian, and a couple who knew the twins in the Before join them on their flight to freedom, a barren backdrop of abandoned cars, empty neighborhoods, and vanished families. The group is relentlessly pursued by the psychopathic Dean, tracked by electronic chips embedded beneath their skin, and always hunted by the free-range hormone-thirsty Ticks. Gothic intrigue, an impressive female warrior, and the keen sensory perceptions and mysteries of autism all come together in this suspenseful adventure. Bloody confrontations are many, but a brewing romance in a dystopian land steals the show. Teen girls will delight in this fresh sci-fi fantasy that works the formula and throws in new surprises. Passing the vampire bite to a key player hints at a sequel.-Alison Follos, formerly at North Country School, Lake Placid, NY

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