After the Red Rain

May 25, 2015
In the far-off future, humankind has so ravaged the planet that plants and other life forms are nearly extinct. While a corrupt government exercises control over its remaining citizens, a strange boy named Rose turns up in 16-year-old Deedra’s home territory and inspires a quiet uprising that has her questioning everything, from the machines she builds at her factory job to the news provided via “wikinet” feed. The dystopian setting bears disturbing similarities to the modern world, serving as a cautionary tale about our own lasting impact on the planet. While the authors paint a frighteningly believable landscape, the characters remain opaque. Deedra, forced to be independent since her orphanage shut down when she was 12, becomes suddenly and inextricably dependent on Rose soon after meeting him. Their magnetic attraction also comes at a cost to Deedra’s heretofore best friend, Lissa, who—despite her own harrowing subplot—is all but forgotten. Loose ends and unanswered questions leave room for future books. Ages 15–up. Agent: Kathleen Anderson, Anderson Literary Management, and Steve Fisher, APA Talent and Literary Agency.

June 1, 2015
Lyga (Blood of My Blood, 2014, etc.) is joined by actor Facinelli and film producer DeFranco for this post-apocalyptic novel. In the distant, environmentally devastated future, orphan Deedra's a factory worker and sometime scavenger. During a scrounging trip, she encounters the most beautiful boy she's ever seen; incredibly, Rose lacks the scars and callouses that mark everybody else. After their brief, mysterious encounter, she can't get him off of her mind. Lucky for her, he feels the same, reappearing just in time to rescue her from a highly placed would-be rapist, magistrate's son and factory overseer Jaron. As Deedra learns about Rose's mysterious abilities, she eventually discovers his true nature-it's an implausible abuse of science, but at least it's original. When Jaron is mysteriously and brutally murdered, suspicion turns to outsider Rose, and even Deedra has doubts about his innocence. Jaron's murder sends his father-an all-powerful, cartoonishly evil dictator-on a witch hunt against Rose and toward war. Interesting themes-the elimination of history as social control and philosophy of utilitarianism vs. individual rights-are clumsily overstated and lack subtlety. The worldbuilding, even in the context of the cultural blank slate, is too weak to sustain the story. The prose alternates between choppy and frustratingly repetitive. The ending promises a sequel. Give these cardboard characters and their ludicrous plot a miss. (Post-apocalyptic romance. 14 & up)

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May 1, 2015

Gr 9 Up-Facinelli, aka Dr. Carisle Cullen from the "Twilight" movies, and producer DeFranco team up with YA author Lyga to create a powerful postapocalyptic novel. This particular version of the future is so far post the apocalypse that no one can remember how exactly they got there, though theories abound, most of them involving a "red rain" that may or may not have killed half of the world's population. The main character, Deedra, was raised in an orphanage and now leads a plodding, government-controlled existence working in a factory and scavenging on her days off. It is on one of these trips that she meets the oddly named Rose, a boy her age who seems to have come from nowhere and is completely different from anyone she's ever met. When Rose's true nature is revealed-not a vampire or robot but something far stranger and more interesting-Deedra realizes that he may be the key to saving their dying world. She just needs to save him first. The story moves along without feeling rushed, and with the exception of the scenery-chewing magistrate, characters are fully formed and subtly drawn. VERDICT Not just another dystopia: strong characters and adept world-building make this work stand out from the crowd.-Eliza Langhans, Hatfield Public Library, MA

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 15, 2015
Grades 8-11 Lyga's foray into the popular genre of dystopian romance seems tailored to be a blockbuster (especially since his collaborators are actor Peter Facinelli and producer Robert DeFranco). Though it hits genre conventions hard, it's well written and unusual enough to stand out. In earth's future, long after the planet's ruin and mass species extinction, people live in cramped, perpetually warring Territories. After a hard childhood in an orphanage, Deedra is proud to be supporting herself with factory work building air scrubbers and going on scavenging forays into the crumbling cityscape called the Wreck. One day she rescues a boy struggling to cross a poisoned river. He calls himself Rose, and everything about him is strange: he is too pretty and perfect, without a Territory brand, and inexplicably living off the denuded land. He thinks differently from everyone else, too, which puts him and Deedra in danger. Rose's true genetic nature is unexpectedly novel, and thatcombined with striking imagery, thrilling action, and adolescent true lovemakes this a sure bet. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Best-selling Lyga gets his mitts on dystopian romance? Better get two.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)