Thursday, November 21, 2013

Frozen by Melissa De la Cruz - ADVISABLE

De La Cruz, Melissa and Johnston, Michael Frozen, 325 pgs. The Penguin Group, 2013. $17.99. Language: PG (8 swears, 0 ‘f’, 4 God); Mature Content: PG; Violence: PG. 

The story takes place some time after a catastrophic event that has left the world frozen, polluted and uninhabitable.  Most people live in poverty with no hope of bettering their lives; some try to find the rumored Blue, a place where it is warm and water is clean.  Nat is one of the few who is born with a magical talent, although her talent has never manifested itself so Nat doesn’t know exactly what she is capable of doing.  She has been held in a military hospital since she was young and has just escaped.  Now she works as a dealer in New Vegas.  While working one night, she meets Wes and hires him as a runner hoping for safe passage through the pacific in hopes of finding the Blue.   Nat, Wes and his crew begin their journey through the wilderness to the coast.  Besides contending with the never ending cold and hunger, they encounter hunters, slavers and the military all trying to stop them.  Finally reaching the coast, they find a boat and begin to navigate through the polluted, toxic, garbage laden waters.  

I enjoyed this book and thought, for the most part, the writing was well done, although, at times, the pacing seemed really rushed to me.  The book covered a lot of ground and I wonder what the rest of the series will bring.  The cover was great and will appeal to students and draw them in, although, mostly girls, which is too bad because Wes is a strong, likeable male character and works well with Nat.  

MS/HS – ADVISABLE. Reviewer: RB

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