Subtle callbacks to Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles enhance
the mood of eerie devastation for those who catch the references
but don't detract for those who don't. Cheery commercial scripts,
news transcripts, and other ephemera of this plastic society
punctuate Zoë's narration, bearing witness to her grim environment,
which, heartbreakingly, has no defeatable villain. A gorgeous and
gut-wrenchingly familiar depiction of the entropic fragmentation of
society.
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
Woolston, author of the Morris Award–winning The Freak Observer
(2010), does a superb job creating a world that is part Kafka and
part Orwell, while the regular integration into the narrative of
quotes from Ray Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles further lends an
otherworldly quality. Told in Zoe’s flat, affectless first person
voice—one that is beautifully articulated—the novel has an
increasingly ominous tone that invites anxious speculation about
the future of the three young people in a soulless world. The one
is both haunting and unforgettable.
—Booklist (starred review)
Zoë’s flattened narration reflects the disjointed, disconnected
nature of her existence, and while Woolston keeps the focus on Zoë,
offhandedly mentioned details about her world (“I’m not an
Otakusexual—although I respect toonophilia as a sexually
responsible choice”) and chilling corporatespeak (“Your smile is
AllMART’s welcome mat”) will set imaginations spinning. It’s a
terrifying extrapolation of the here-and-now and, like much of
Woolston’s fiction, far too close for comfort.
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
It is excellent, excellent, excellent, the sort of book that
challenges and possibly changes a reader’s worldview.
—Kirkus Reviews
Zoë's voice is utterly distinctive...It's not hard to have
affection for Zoë.
—Chicago Tribune
The parody of media manipulation, commercialism and retail
psychology (as parroted by the savvy, order-seeking Zoë) is often
laugh-out-loud funny, but underneath the satire of MARTians is the
story of girl in search of love and family wherever she can find
it.
—Shelf Awareness for Readers
Readers [will] feel for Zoë, who has been abandoned and had her
future co-opted by corporate greed.
—Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
Readers will be quick to make comparisons to contemporary society.
They will also root for Zoe to break free. Pair this with Marie
Lu’s Legend (G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2011) and Cory Doctorow’s Little
Brother (Tom Doherty Associates, 2008).
—School Library Connection
Readers interested in thought-provoking stories set in unusual
environments will enjoy.
—School Library Journal
Ask a Question About this Product More... |