Fire & Flood

January 6, 2014
Tella Holloway’s older brother is dying, and if anyone knows why, they’re not saying. In the desperate hope that fresh air and quiet will help him, Tella’s parents have left Boston for an isolated Montana farmhouse: no neighbors, no school, no electronic devices. Suffice it to say, Tella is going nuts. The mysterious delivery of an earpiece—which her father tries and fails to destroy—offers Tella escape and hope. Its message is that if she can make it to a rendezvous point in Nebraska, she can compete for the chance to cure her brother. Scott (the Dante Walker trilogy) isn’t hiding her influences—this novel reads like a mashup of The Hunger Games and The Amazing Race. But Scott holds her own in attitude and taut action, and Tella’s voice is feminine, smart, and sassy. Importantly, although male-female chemistry is definitely present, the emotional drive of the novel doesn’t rely on romance. Family, camaraderie, and Tella’s bond with her furry Pandora companion matter just as much in getting her through the first part of her life-and-death race. Ages 12–up.