Blackout
Superpower-laden high-school students tangle with terrorists in Wells’ YA sci-fi dystopian novel as it marches along a somewhat shaky route, with a boilerplate plot that borrows from Heroes and X-Men. Teenager Aubrey has managed to survive an alcoholic father and poverty, but that all changes when she discovers the power to literally vanish. Her classmate Jack has had to take a menial job that estranges him from his friends. When a militia force rolls into prom and rounds up the bewildered kids, it turns out they are seeking Lambdas, or teenagers infected with a virus that somehow causes them to develop superpowers. Aubrey and Jack get sent to a detention camp and eventually meet determined terrorists Alec and Laura. For the teens, discovering the bigger picture means leaving behind childhood and deciding which side is the right one to be on. While the characters are oddly flat and lack emotional connection, the small-town Utah setting frames this as an every-person story. The promise of a series and a huge cliff-hanger ending should entice some readers to follow the characters and events. Grades 8-11. --Julie Trevelyan