Plus One
Gr 9 Up—In the alternative reality of Fama's plot-driven latest, American society has been divided into "Smudges," people who are awake at night, and "Rays," privileged individuals who get to live during the day. Sixteen-year-old Sol le Coeur is a factory-working Smudge who is willing to risk everything to make sure her ill grandfather holds his great granddaughter before he dies. Her plan lands her in the care of a young Ray medical apprentice, handsome D'Arcy Benoît. Sol's mission goes awry when she accidentally kidnaps the son of the Night Minister. She and D'Arcy are thrown together on a romance-laced adventure that takes them from the caves of a nature preserve to the steam tunnels of Chicago University. As they run from the authorities, the teens uncover government and family secrets. At times, the language can be awkward or clumsy (e.g., "Thousands of years of this running water must have carved the cave, with a serene patience that only nature and cancer victims had."), and Sol and D'Arcy are not particularly memorable heroes—dystopian fans have seen their likes before. With this title, it's the breakneck-paced story, which takes place over the course of a few days, and characters such as the Noma (F-bomb-dropping, heavy-makeup wearing rebels) that will keep readers invested until the cliff-hanger ending.—Chelsey Philpot, formerly at School Library Journal