The Last of Us: American Dreams
World-weary Ellie hasn’t known anything but the virus-ravaged, military-run region where she has spent the last few years shuttling between military boarding schools, and this new school isn’t any different—same thugs, same power-drunk administrators, same cruddy quarters. But when she spies spunky Riley sneaking out one night, she follows her into the outside world and meets the Fireflies, a vigilante group protecting citizens from heartless soldiers and hungry hordes of the infected (yes, zombies). Hicks (Nothing Can Possibly Go Wrong, 2013) is up to her usual tricks—deeply expressive faces, cinematic action sequences, and detailed cityscapes—and her cartoony artwork is satisfyingly unsettling against the dark, horror-tinged tale. Teenage Riley and Ellie have grown up fast in a terrifying world, and their fatalistic worldview and copious use of f-bombs fit right in. Though this story is the prequel to the well-received video game of the same name, readers need not be familiar with (nor at all interested in) the game to be moved by this affecting, fast-paced tale. Grades 9-12. --Sarah Hunter