In the After

August 1, 2013

Gr 8 Up-Readers barely have a chance to meet 14-year-old Amy before the world ends, which means that, like her, they are thrust into a terrifying and confusing urban wasteland with next to no warning. The general consensus is that aliens attacked Earth, but Amy doesn't understand how these creatures, who can barely see and are single-mindedly driven by their appetite for human flesh, could have created the technology necessary for space travel. She doesn't have much time to muse about it, though, as she spends most of her energy figuring out how to survive along with Baby, a toddler she found miraculously alive in a grocery store. But when Amy and Baby are dragged into a helicopter and transported to New Hope, the largest human settlement on the continent (governed by her mother, who survived thanks to her government job), Amy begins to learn the truth about the predators and the world her mother is trying to rebuild. The story is incredibly fast paced with tight, clear prose and interesting dialogue. The characters aren't particularly well developed, but the plot is gripping and suspenseful. Apocalyptic fiction is a crowded field but this title, particularly the final revelations, stands out.-Kyle Lukoff, Corlears School, New York City

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2013
Surviving alone after an alien invasion and the ensuing apocalypse turns out to be onlythe beginning of Amy's trials. Fourteen-year-old Amy has her paranoid, scientist mother and hippie father to thank for her survival when the aliens land in Central Park. Though neither of her parents is home when the invasion occurs, the house is green enough to be supplied with solar electricity and rainwater plumbing, and it's surrounded by an electric fence. Amy and a foundling girl she names Baby live there for three years, communicating via sign language to avoid detection by the acute hearing of the small, voracious aliens who have wiped out most of humanity. When their sanctuary is threatened by a very human threat, the girls escape and find New Hope, a colony of human survivors...but the secrets of the regimented survivor community prove to be every bit as dangerous, if not more so, than the alien invaders. Debut author Lunetta crafts a bang-up, twisty sci-fi adventure/thriller that begs continuation. Plucky, smart, inquisitive Amy's first-person narration is enjoyably snarky, and this end of the world is original enough to make it a good addition to any collection of post-apocalyptic fiction. Fans will be rabid for The End, scheduled for summer 2014. (Science fiction. 13 & up)

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July 1, 2013
Grades 7-12 Lunetta's debut novel is a postapocalyptic page-turner with complex history and intriguing philosophical issues. Amy is 14 and home alone watching television when they attackhuman-shaped aliens with poor vision, excellent hearing, and an endless appetite for human flesh. Within days Amy's world has changed forever. While she herself is safe in the solar-powered home, there's no water, electricity, television, radio, or even people in her wealthy Chicago neighborhood. With her parents and friends gone, Amy is lonely and miserable until she discovers a toddler in an abandoned supermarket. Baby and Amy bond, and Amy teaches Baby sign language, as any sort of sound attracts the aliens. Three years later, the girls are rescued and taken to the community of New Hope, where survivors are gathering to try to repopulate Earth and kill the aliens. Amy is shocked and delighted to discover her scientist mother is director of the community, but as she learns the secrets behind the apparent peaceful safety of New Hope, she realizes the safety comes at too great a price. An abrupt cliff-hanger of an ending promises a sequel.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2013
Three years after the world was overrun by "Them," horrible alien creatures of unknown origin that devour humans, Amy has managed to keep herself and Baby, a toddler she rescued soon after the invasion, alive. Their lives are limited but secure until Amy is forced to flee their home, leading to their arrival at New Hope, a seemingly perfect haven that feels all wrong to Amy. The biggest surprises are finding her mother, long assumed dead, and learning that she and the other scientists harbor more deadly secrets than they have solutions. Amy, brash and vulnerable, snarky and terrified, is a complicated protagonist, and her ultimate choice will likely leave readers stunned, even as they've seen her carefully developed evolution. The notion of evil, and whether it is found in the aliens or the human powers-that-be, is handled with a deft hand and may raise questions that linger beyond the last pages. april spisak

(Copyright 2013 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

January 1, 2014
After the world is overrun by human-devouring aliens, Amy manages to keep herself and toddler Baby alive. Then Amy is forced to flee her home. In New Hope, a seemingly perfect haven, Amy finds her long-missing mother and learns that she and the other scientists harbor deadly secrets. Amy is a complex protagonist, and her ultimate choice will likely leave readers stunned.

(Copyright 2014 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)