known a world without imminent threat of starvation or cannibalism. We suspect that the destination will offer no more relief or comfort than the journey, but the power of McCarthy’s language lifts the spirit in the face of pessimism. 14+
The Wind Singer
William Nicholson, Egmont, 978 1 4052 3969 1, £6.99 pbk
The next two volumes in ‘The Wind on Fire’ trilogy are firmly in the realms of fantasy but the over- achieving city state of Amaranth introduced in this first book has many parallels with our own world, subtly reminding us that intelligence is only worth having if it comes with empathy. 9+
Akira
Katsuhiro Otomo, Titan Books, 978 1 84023 257 8, £22.99 pbk
The first in a cult manga series in six chunky volumes set in post- apocalyptic ‘Neo-Tokyo’ which opens in the not-too-distant 2030s as rival biker gangs tussle for supremacy. Cryogenics, psychic powers and drug dependency are just a few of the added elements in this literally explosive tale of baddies and yet more baddies, which will keep older teens happy well into adulthood. Sometimes violent and sexually explicit, but the narrative drive is so strong that you barely notice it. 14+
Life as We Knew It 978 1 4071 1731 7
The Dead and the Gone
978 1 4071 1732 4,
Susan Beth Pfeffer, Marion Lloyd Books, £6.99 each pbk
These twin novels explore the terrifyingly plausible outcome when an asteroid nudges the Moon out of orbit: tsunamis, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions lead to crop failure, disease, food riots and the breakdown of civilisation. Life as We Knew It is the diary of 16-year-old Miranda, whose family faces despair in a small Pennsylvania town. The paraquel, The Dead and the Gone, tracks the same events in Manhattan where bright Puerto Rican student Alex is left to care for his sisters when his parents are presumed dead and the city empties of all but the lawless. The daily threat of death and the drudgery of staying alive make the hope that is unexpectedly evoked in the reader seem like a blessing. 12+
10 Unwind
Neal Shusterman, Simon & Schuster, 978 1 84738 231 3, £6.99 pbk
Shusterman explores the aftermath of America’s second civil war, with abortion replacing slavery as the issue that divides the nation. In a sickening compromise, unwanted children cannot be aborted but can be ‘unwound’ (their body parts recycled) between the ages of 13 and 18. Underachieving or misfit teens meet the same fate unless they can go underground until safely into adulthood. Following the fortunes of those who resist, Unwind forces the reader to contemplate big questions such as the conditions necessary for life (if your consciousness is split between 10 bodies, do you still exist?) and the lengths to which society will go to rid itself of those it rejects. 12+ n
Mortal Engines
Philip Reeve, Scholastic, 978 1 4071 1091 2, £6.99 pbk
The first in a quartet of exciting, witty, highly visual but also chilling novels, set many millennia after most of the world has been destroyed in a Sixty Minute War. Most of the population live on wheeled ‘traction cities’ which patrol the dry ocean bed to devour smaller towns in a process called Municipal Darwinism.
Philosophically-minded readers will enjoy the tension between the Historians with their reverence for Old Tech (useless electronics) and the Engineers who reinvent the past to improve it. Apprentice historian Tom and revenge-driven refugee Hester, who take on the London traction city as it plots to conquer the world’s last free state, are complex and engaging characters. Follow them through the remaining three books: Predator’s Gold, Infernal Devices and A Darkling Plain. 9+
Geraldine Brennan is the former Books Editor of The Times Educational Supplement and a freelance journalist.
Books for Keeps No.188 May 2011 11
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