Race the Night

September 15, 2016
Is this a post-apocalypse dystopia or a story about a cult? That's the question facing middle-grade readers in this suspense puzzler.Eider can't forget her imagined vision of her little sister, Robin, even though Teacher and everyone else insist that Robin never existed. Brown-skinned Eider and several other children of diverse races live in a desert compound that Teacher says is the last place left after the end of the world, but Eider keeps finding interesting artifacts from Before and can't stop herself from secretly sneaking out of the compound and reading her hidden storybook. Even though all the children know that they will receive severe punishment if they're caught disobeying, all have hidden their own forbidden objects. After Teacher takes Eider out to look at the stagnant, dead sea, the 12-year-old decides to concentrate on learning the Extrasensory exercises Teacher seems so intent on teaching to the children. But when Eider begins to suspect that Teacher also might be hiding something, she decides to escape and try to find a real town. Is that even possible, or has the world truly ended? Hubbard keeps pages turning with careful pacing of the revelations about Eider's world and ever increasing clues that Teacher may not be telling the truth. Even as readers and Eider begin to question Teacher's reality, however, the narrative maintains its tight focus on Eider's experience. A claustrophobic survival tale that will keep readers guessing. (Thriller. 10-14)

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Starred review from October 1, 2016

Gr 4-6-The world has ended. All that's left is the remote desert compound where 12-year-old Eider and four other children live under the stern rule of Teacher, whose tales of the cataclysm and dangers of the outside world keep the children isolated and afraid to question what they've been told. Eider's growing sense of "something out there...something more" emboldens her to venture beyond the compound walls, discovering traces of humanity and hope. Like its companion novel Watch the Sky, this title includes a stark desert setting, apocalyptic paranoia, and sincere but delusional adults who use fear as a weapon of control. Hubbard waits until the final pages to link the two stories: when they do intersect, fans of the first book will be rocked. Readers unfamiliar with Watch the Sky will still enjoy an emotionally satisfying-if a bit convenient-resolution. Hubbard's evocative language conveys the tension: a character's hair is "so pale it looked like the color had been frightened out of it." The four children who make up Eider's compound family tug at readers' hearts as they struggle to gain the courage to challenge their limited world. Eider is an engaging protagonist, journeying from oppression to liberation, buoyed by the faith that she may still have something the other children do not: a sibling. VERDICT The end of one world is the beginning of another in this moving tale of resilience, hope, and the meaning of family. A unique and well-written addition for medium to large middle grade collections.-Marybeth Kozikowski, Sachem Public Library, Holbrook, NY

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 15, 2016
Grades 4-7 Eider lives with four other children in the safety of a compound in a remote stretch of desert, far away from the devastation wrought by the end of the world, according to their teacher. In their small classroom, they're encouraged to focus their attention on the future and their own special skills, not the past or what's beyond the camp's high fences. But Eider can't help her curiosity, especially when she remembers her sister, Robin. She's been told her sister never existed, but Eider knows differently, and when she and her classmates begin to see holes in Teacher's lessons, Eider becomes determined to escape for good. Hubbard leaves lots of elements out of her storywhy is Teacher training the children and where did they come from?but those hints and glimmers at a backstory only heighten the mystery and build a gentle sense of dread. Though the ultimate conclusion leaves many questions unanswered and relies on remarkable convenience, the eerie atmosphere and intelligent, determined kid characters will appeal to plenty of readers.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)