Paradox
Ana wakes up aboard a spaceship on an unfamiliar planet with a note informing her that she has “surgical retrograde amnesia.” Indeed, as she begins to explore, she finds she has no idea who she is or why she is there—though her muscle memory indicates that she has experience rock climbing and fighting. Soon she meets up with three other teen voyagers, all of whom are aware that they have 27 hours to reach a human colony on the coast before something dreadful happens. Their treacherous journey is further complicated in two ways: Ana begins to experience slivers of memory about a superflu brought back by the first explorers of this planet, and the teens are being pursued by a gigantic, sharp-toothed worm: “Long white teeth raging out of a cloud of reddish-brown dust.” Paquette’s main characters and primary action feel a bit perfunctory. However, the backstory, initially revealed through interspersed newspaper articles, presents the intriguing notion of memories as a kind of infection. The result is a delayed, but eventually worthwhile, payoff. Grades 7-10. --Daniel Kraus